Fate Brought Us Together
by curiouswriter
Summary: Damon Salvatore, an Ex-Marine who returns home after finishing his active duty in Afghanistan. He returns to Mystic Falls trying to forget his experiences in the war and move on from his best friend's death, only to fall in love with his best friend's sister along the way. AU/AH.
1. Prologue

AN: Hello! So yeah basically, I wrote this story a few months ago but I ended up having massive writer's block in which I didn't know where to take the story. Then something happened in my personal life that made me stop writing for a while, I won't bother you all with the doom and gloom. I've recently tried to get back into writing by starting a new story, which I'll continue to write (it's a canon story if any of you are interested in checking it out) but I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to get this story done because I really loved writing it. My writing was quite spotty, so I've opted to re-write the story instead of just carrying it on. So yeah, if you've read this the first time around when I wrote it then I just want to say that I'm really sorry that I didn't update in months but my personal life got really hectic for a while, so I apologize. I wanted to get the first chapter up before Christmas so without further ado, here's the re-written version of FBUT!

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Prologue

* * *

The annoying, continuous beeping of Elena's alarm clock abruptly woke her up from her light sleep, she buried her head further into the pillow, hoping to ignore the ringing noise in her ears for just a while longer. Much to her disappointment though, the clock continued to sound out through her bedroom, leaving her with no choice but to climb out of bed. She looked at the digital numbers that displayed the time and she groaned out loud. The bright red digits, reading 7:00AM made her want to climb back into bed, oblivious to the whole world for just another day.

It was Elena's first day back to school since Jeremy's death and she had been dreading this moment for almost a whole month. Today was going to be the day that everyone in her school would suffocate her with their false apologies and fake smiles, when really; they didn't care too much about her life. Elena didn't want to listen to how sorry they were for her loss when the fact was none of them even knew her all too well, let alone her brother. She didn't expect them to care though, after all they had lives of their own and they had to get on with theirs just like she had to get on with hers.

After a few more minutes of lying in her bed, brooding about how dreadful today was going to be, she finally decided that the sooner she got today over and done with, the sooner she could come home and lock herself away from everything once again. Deciding that she might as well look at least half-presentable for school, Elena made her way into the bathroom to freshen up. After brushing her teeth and getting dressed, she hopped downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen, making coffee and waffles. She brushed past Miranda, towards the fridge and took the carton of orange juice out, pouring a glass of juice for herself.

"Elena, honey. Are you sure that you're up for this today?" Miranda asked her, knowing full well that she wasn't. Jeremy's death had hit Elena a lot harder than anyone could have ever expected.

"Yeah I think so. I might as well get it over and done with, right?" Elena replied, giving her mother a small smile before a loud horn echoed through the walls, interrupting her.

"Oh god! It's that Lockwood boy again." Miranda rolled her eyes as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"He isn't that bad mom! He just doesn't really know how to act around you and Jenna." Elena replied, giving her mom a small smile before picking up her bag.

"That's because he knows that me and Jenna will kill him if he hurts you! I don't know what it is about him, but I don't trust him, Elena." Elena couldn't help but pout at Miranda, who had a serious look on her face.

They had been having this conversation ever since she had first gotten together with Tyler. She understood where her mother was coming from, Tyler had a bad reputation around town for being a bad-boy who used girls, but Elena didn't believe the rumours at all. Everyone just didn't see the Tyler that she saw, sure he was a dick most of the time and he was always subtly pushing her to have sex with him, although he knew she wasn't ready to give that part of herself up to him yet. Deep down though, Elena knew that there was more to Tyler than meets the eye, there were glimpses of a good in him and Elena thought that she could reach through to that part of him.

Everyone else might have given up on him, but she wouldn't.

"I know mom. I promise you that he won't hurt me, I trust him." Elena called out as she left for the door.

"That's not your promise to make, Elena." Miranda muttered as the door slammed shut.

Elena shut the door behind her and looked down the pathway to see her boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood seated in his bright red Porsche 911 Convertible. A present from his dad for his 18th birthday not long ago. Tyler had only had the car for a few months and there was not a scratch on it. He took care of the car better than he did himself.

He reminded her of Jenna's boyfriend, Alaric. He took care of his car like it was his child or something, cleaning it every other day. Elena was pretty sure that Ric had even named the car, which was quite disturbing. The difference between Tyler and Alaric though, was that Jenna meant more to him than his car did whereas with Tyler, his car meant more to him than anything else, including _her_.

Elena quickly made her way down to the car to see Tyler looking at her funny, as he tilted his sunglasses down to see her. She didn't have much time to dress up or anything this morning, with her brain thinking too much. Besides, it was only school. She wore a casual purple camisole and a pair of light-wash jeans along with her black converse. It was hot out as it approached summer so there was no need for her to wear a jacket, the heat was already unbearable without one and wearing a jacket would probably result in her dying from heat exhaustion. However, she knew Tyler would comment on her appearance as he always did, every day.

"Jesus, Elena. What are you wearing? It's your first day back to school, don't you think you could of dressed up a little better?" Tyler said to her, lacing his tone with disgust.

The words that came out of Tyler's mouth were predictable but nevertheless, they still stung. She didn't think she looked that bad. She was casual but more than presentable at the same time, she wasn't like most of the girls at school who smothered themselves in make-up or went shopping every weekend for new clothes. While she did dress up for the right occasion, she never went through the trouble of doing it every day just to be accepted, it just wasn't her.

Elena tried not to let Tyler's words faze her much as she knew better than that, he only thought she was wearing nice clothes when she was wearing something remotely sexy enough to turn him on, or when she wore a dress that was cut pretty short.

"Well I just thought that I would go with a casual look today, instead of dressing up like a slut for you and your friends to drool over like Vicky Donovan!" Elena snapped back and she immediately regretted it. While Vicky wasn't the nicest person in the world, she didn't deserve being called a slut.

She knew that she shouldn't let Tyler's words affect her but she still wouldn't stand for him treating her like dirt, he knew that if he was a dick to her she'd be a bitch to him back. After all, she wasn't like anyone else Tyler had ever dated, she was independent and stubborn and she knew it. Something Tyler was still trying to get used to after five months of dating.

"Oh believe me, Elena. My friends wouldn't look at you twice." Tyler chuckled, before realising his mistake.

Elena's eyes widened and her heart dropped as she heard Tyler's words leave his mouth. Elena knew that Tyler hadn't meant for her to hear that, and before she could snap back at him, he quickly tried to recover from his mistake.

"I mean I wouldn't let them obviously, you're mine only..." he gave her a cocky smirk and winked at her, hoping that he had done enough.

"Good. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be dressing up like a slut for you, Ty." Elena replied, quietly. She let it slip for now, not wanting to cause an argument while he was driving.

She couldn't believe the words that she just heard come out of Tyler's mouth. Did he really think that low of her? She knew that she wasn't the prettiest person in the world, but Tyler made out that she was the ugliest girl he had ever seen and Elena didn't understand why he was with her if that was the case.

Once they arrived in the car park of the school, Elena kissed Tyler on the cheek quickly and got out the car. She was still pissed with him over their conversation on the way to school. She still couldn't believe his reaction to how she dressed, he shouldn't care what she looked like if he was her boyfriend, he was meant to think she was beautiful regardless, that's what love was, right? Did he even think for one second about how she was dealing with Jeremy? No, of course he didn't because Tyler Lockwood only thinks about himself.

Elena sometimes wondered why she even bothered with him, most of the time he was a jackass to her friends and the only time he was nice to her was when he wanted something. She wasn't going to break up with him though over that, she knew that it was hard for him to try and befriend Caroline and Bonnie. She saw a glimpse of hope in him, that small potential to be a decent guy. Her father always told her to look for the best in people and that's what she was doing now, and deep down she knew she had feelings for him. Feelings that could possibly turn to love. But how much more could she take? It wasn't as if this was the first time he put her down and made her feel like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. He was a dick to everyone around her on a daily basis.

She walked into the entrance of the school and walked up to her locker, spinning the correct code in before the locker flung open. Elena quickly placed all the books she didn't need for her lesson into her locker and shut it, about to head off to class. She certainly didn't expect to be pulled into a bear hug when spun around. Two arms wrapped themselves around her and squeezed until she couldn't breathe. Once she was released, Elena looked up into the eyes of her gorgeous best friend, Caroline.

"Oh my god! Why the hell are you in school?" Caroline vented as she released her friend. Caroline was the type of person who hated seeing one of her friends hurt and did anything she could to make it better.

"It's nice to see you too, Caroline." Elena replied and smiled at the blonde, trying to act as if everything was normal.

She had been coming to terms with Jeremy for the past few weeks and tried acting as though everything was okay in front of people. Slowly though, she was starting to actually believe it herself. Elena was actually feeling a lot better than normal today, but that was probably because she hadn't seen Caroline in a week or two and she was so happy to see her best friend again, that she just forgot about everything that had been bothering her recently, Jeremy's burial and the way Tyler was acting.

"Seriously Elena, why are you here? You shouldn't be in school after everything that's happened." Caroline scolded lightly.

"I know, I know. It's just, I can't stay in that house all day, every day much longer. It's too much." Elena replied quietly.

All the bad emotions and memories came rushing back to her. The pain of losing one of the most important people in her life. She couldn't stand to be in the house any longer because everything reminded her of Jeremy. When he had been in Afghanistan, it had comforted her knowing he was everywhere but now that he was dead, it had the opposite effect. Elena tried to fight back the tears that were pooling in her eyes but Caroline saw the tears that were threatening to fall so she quickly dragged her to the toilets, shooing out all of the sophomores, so the restroom was empty.

"Out with it Elena, I bet you haven't cried since you found out about him and let me tell toy, it's not healthy. So cry!" Caroline said, shifting back into the bossy senior that Elena knew and loved.

Elena knew that Caroline was right, although she was being a bit bossy. Caroline knew better than anyone that keeping it all in did more bad than it did good, Elena could still remember when Caroline's father died and she didn't speak for a whole week. She was also right because Elena hadn't cried since she found out that Jeremy had died, it hadn't quite hit her that he was gone, forever...

Finally, all the pain and heartache that Elena had bottled inside erupted as she burst into tears. Caroline gathered Elena up in her arms and held her as she let out all of the tears that she had been holding in since Jeremy's death.

"It's just that everything was going so well a few months ago, we got news that Jeremy was coming to the end of his active duty and that he was coming home. Everything was perfect, then the next thing we know, we get people from the Army coming to our house saying he's dead!" Elena managed to say as she sobbed into her friend's shoulder "burying him was so difficult Care, It was like losing him all over again!"

Caroline embraced Elena with everything she had and after a few minutes of crying, Elena calmed down slightly. "To top it all off, Tyler's acting like a dick again." she said while wiping the tears that were starting to dry on her face.

"Acting? Elena when are you going to see that he's just a dick? I mean I know that you see this glimpse of good in him that no-one else sees, you've said it about a thousand times but really? You're wasting your efforts, Elena and he's just going to end up hurting you." Caroline replied angrily as she clenched her fists together.

It was no secret that Caroline hated Tyler with a passion. She slept with Tyler when they were sophomores hoping that they would get into a relationship soon after, but she had been wrong. Tyler ditched her the next day for a different girl. Caroline had told her the story a few times, in hopes that she would dump Tyler and move on but Elena felt as though he deserved a second chance. It was two years ago, after all.

"He's not always a dick. He's nice, sometimes. He just doesn't let everyone see that part of him." Elena tried reasoning, although she didn't fully understand why she was defending him. He had treated her like dirt ever since they got together and the only time he was nice to her was when he wanted something or tried to get her to be intimate with him.

She wasn't going to give in to him though just because he was pressuring her, this was important to her and she wanted to make sure that she was ready and that he was the right guy to do it with, before she lost her virginity.

"Yeah well, I just don't want you to get hurt." Caroline replied, the fight slowly draining from her.

"You sound like Jenna and my mom." Elena giggled, giving her friend a small smile before wiping away any tears that were left on her face.

"Great minds think alike!" Caroline exclaimed proudly before letting out a small giggle herself.

* * *

Tyler slammed his locker shut after he took his books out. He knew that he'd messed up in the car with Elena, but he couldn't help it. It was a slip of the tongue and he hadn't meant for her to hear him. This relationship business with her was starting to get more exhausting as the days went on.

He was in too deep for his liking, he had been in a relationship with her for a little over five months and she still hadn't put out for him. He was beginning to feel desperate, he wanted her so badly. He had obviously found someone else for his 'needs' while he was with Elena, but he still wanted to have her. He knew Elena was a virgin and he wanted to be her first, the bragging rights that would come with that would lead to the guys buying him drinks all year. She was without a doubt the hottest girl in the whole school, but she was such a goody-two shoes that it seemed almost impossible for him to get her to sleep with him.

He knew that once he had his way with Elena, he'd dump her and move on, it was the type of guy he was. He was the type of guy that had to have a variety of different women at his disposal, and he loved it. His uncle had taught him to never to get tied down by one girl when you could be out there enjoying a lot of them. Sure he'd been sort of tied down to Elena for a while now, but all he really had to do was go on a few dates with her and watch a few movies. As long as she didn't find out about all the other girls that he'd been sleeping with behind her back, then he would be able to cope until Elena finally gave in, which hopefully wouldn't be too long now.

It was actually surprising that she hadn't found out yet. He knew about the rumours about him that people spread around. Well actually, they weren't really rumours, just truths that people should keep their mouths shut about. Thankfully, Elena didn't believe any of them so he was safe for now. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long before they would have sex; after all they had been dating for a few months. He couldn't remember how many exactly, but he knew that this little "Mission Impossible" he had going on would soon be coming to an end.

Tyler felt his phone vibrate and when he pulled it out, he smiled when he saw a text from Vicky.

_Vick: Come over mine tonight? Matt's working. We can get up to all types of fun ;)_

He couldn't suppress the wolf-like grin that formed on his face. He enjoyed having sex with Vicky a lot, she was a wildcat in bed and she was a great distraction to get his mind of the real thing that he wanted. He didn't get to have sex with her as much as he'd like though, Matt wasn't always working and he couldn't think of many excuses to go over his best friend's house just to sleep with his sister. Of course, Matt didn't know about his and Vicky's little arrangement that they had going on, Matt would kill him if he found out.

_Tyler: I'll be over at 8._

Just as Tyler was walking out of the school, he spotted a poster of the annual bonfire at the Falls next week. He smirked when an idea popped into his head. An idea in which he would finally be able to have sex with Elena. Everyone would be going to the bonfire; it was a massive party for everyone at Mystic Falls. The place was too big for the Mystic Falls Sheriff's department to handle, which meant that it was too hard for them to check if there was underage drinking. It was a big event for most of the seniors as it was an excuse to get drunk without being caught. There was a lot of alcohol lying around for people to drink which meant that most people at the school would be going.

Elena would definitely be going...

The plan he had in mind was flawless. He would get Elena drunk and then sneak her away into the woods to finally have his way with her. She would be drunk enough to willingly have sex with him or he would get her so wasted that she wouldn't even remember it if she did _say_ no. Either way, by the end of next week, he was going to make sure that he finally had sex with Elena Gilbert.

* * *

The rest of the day went pretty fast, but exhausting at the same time for Elena. If she had a dollar for every time she said 'It's okay, I'm fine thank-you' she would be a millionaire.

She decided to walk home from school today as she couldn't take Tyler's attitude at the moment, she had ignored him most of the day because of this morning and she wasn't ready to forgive him yet. Her phone's ringtone rung out in her pocket and when she looked at the contact information, she saw Caroline's name flashing around on her screen. She quickly answered her phone not wanting to keep her friend waiting too long on the other side.

"So Elena, you're still coming to the bonfire at the Falls next Friday right?" Caroline asked and Elena could hear her best friend's excitement down the phone.

"I suppose I will, only if you and Bonnie are going, though." Elena replied. Come to think of it, she hadn't gotten drunk in a while.

"Good! So I was also thinking that we could go to the Grill, like Saturday and have a few drinks in honour of Jeremy? I mean... that's only if you want to of course." Elena couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face, it was things like this that Caroline or Bonnie did that made Elena realise she had the best friends in the world.

"Really? You'd do that for me?" Elena asked as tears formed in her eyes, entirely different tears to the ones she shed earlier.

"Duh. Of course, we would 'Lena." Caroline said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, we should. That would be really awesome, Care." Elena replied, smiling to herself.

After speaking some more about anything and everything, they finally said their goodbyes and hung up as Elena reached her house. The walk to her house had been surprisingly quick but considering she spent almost all of it on the phone with Caroline, she wasn't surprised She smiled once more thinking about what her best friend had suggested, maybe things were starting to look up.

Elena decided that after a long day of school she just needed a hot shower and a cup of hot chocolate. Once she showered and freshened up, she slipped on a small t-shirt and a pair of PJ shorts to sleep in. She checked her phone quickly to see if she anyone had text her while she was in the shower and she saw a text from Tyler...

_Tyler: Sorry about today, babe. I was in a cranky mood because of the scholarship and stuff._

If anything, Tyler was predictable. She saw this text coming from a mile away. It wasn't the first time that he blamed his 'cranky' moods on the scholarship that he was trying to earn and if it wasn't football, it was his dad that was making him act like a jackass. Deciding not to let Tyler ruin her night, she continued with her plan and went downstairs to make herself a hot chocolate.

Elena walked downstairs, into the kitchen and saw her mother on the phone. She noticed that her mom's eyes gleamed in the light as tears shone brightly in them. Her mother was crying, but judging from the way she was speaking on the phone, they were not tears of sadness. Miranda sounded overjoyed on the phone as she carried on speaking to the person on the opposite end of the line that she only imagined was Jenna. Ever since Jeremy's death they had been on the phone to each other a lot and Jenna had been coming around a lot more.

Elena waited in the doorway for a few minutes, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation her mother was having. She usually didn't invade her mothers' privacy but curiosity got the best of her and she wanted to know what her mother was speaking to Jenna about. After a few minutes, Elena finally decided that she wasn't going to catch any of their conversation and walked into the kitchen, acting oblivious to the conversation that was going on meters away from her.

Miranda put the phone down as Elena walked into the kitchen and she noticed that her mom couldn't hide the massive smile that she had on her face.

"What's got you so happy?" Elena asked as put a mug on the counter.

"Well, we finally got some good news today!" Miranda smiled as she wiped the joyful tears away.

"What news could possibly be counted as 'good news' these days?" Elena replied as she walked over towards the fridge and took the carton of milk out.

Elena found it hard to believe in good news these days. Ever since the house call that ripped their family apart. The visit that took the chance for her brother to walk her down the aisle one day, when she finally got married or the chance of spending another Christmas or Thanksgiving with him.

"Sofia just called. Damon's signed off on his active duty. He's coming home!" Miranda exclaimed, giving Elena a massive grin.

Her mom was right, this was the best news that Elena had heard in months and it was a massive mood changer after the burial of Jeremy. After Jeremy died, it was always in the back of her mind that Damon would be next, as much as she tried to force the awful thoughts out of her head. Elena knew that her mother would be ecstatic to know that one of her boys made it back. Her mom thought of Damon as one of her own and he had become a second son and a part of the family. She was also happy for her mom's best friend, Sofia. Elena knew that after Jeremy's death, Sofia also accepted the fact that her son would most likely not be returning either so the fact that Damon was coming home sprung Elena onto cloud nine.

"When?" Elena couldn't keep the bright smile of her face. This was defiantly the good news that she needed after everything she'd been through these past few months. She remembered Damon as a big brother to her, always looking out for her and to have him back would be the best thing to ever happen to her.

"A few days I think. Sofia is so relieved. You should have heard how happy she was, 'Lena. It will be so good to have him back, I don't know what I would have done if Damon never made it back either." Miranda replied happily, the atmosphere in the house suddenly changing for the better.

"Wow! That's amazing news. Damon is coming back..." Elena said to herself, trying to digest the information. It was hard to think that this wasn't all just a dream. "Does Stefan know?"

Damon was Stefan's hero and when their father abandoned them for another woman, Damon became the man of the house and took care of both his mother and brother. Eventually though, Damon and Jeremy both enlisted into the Army not long after they graduated, leaving Stefan without his big brother. After the news of Jeremy's death, Stefan cut himself of from Elena, Caroline and the rest of his friends. She hardly saw him and when she did, he was either hanging around with Vicky Donovan or he was on his own, refusing to speak to her. She always saw him go around the back of the school with her and while she didn't know what he was doing with Vicky around the back of the school at lunch, she didn't want to pry into his life either.

"I'm sure he's over the moon, Elena. Anyway, I'm going to head up to bed now. It's been a long day for all of us and I promised that I would go over to Sofia's tomorrow to help prepare the house for when Damon comes home." Miranda replied while yawning.

"Yeah, sure mom. I'm just going to make myself a drink, then go to bed as well."

After making her hot chocolate, Elena decided that bed was the best option after the day she had. She couldn't help the giddy feeling she had inside of her stomach. She had secretly been worried about Damon as well, but with everything that was going on these past few weeks, most of her attention was on getting back to school and moving on from Jeremy's death.

Elena drifted off to sleep with a massive smile on her face. It was like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders, knowing that Damon was safe. Tomorrow was a new day and for the first time in a long time, she welcomed tomorrow. With those happy thoughts floating around in her head, she quickly drifted off to sleep for what would be the best sleep that she'd had in weeks.

* * *

AN: So that was the first chapter! I'm not sure if it's any good or if it's an improvement from the last time I posted this chapter, but hopefully you'll like it. There will be no more extended vacations for this story and I promise that I'm not going to bail. I really want to finish this story so I'm going to try my best! I would really appreciate it if you could alert and review if you liked the chapter! Reviews are amazing and I'd love to see what you all think and I would be happy to read some suggestions you have for the story.

So yeah, Merry Christmas and I hope that you all enjoy yourselves, I know I will ;).


	2. Chapter 1

AN: Wow! I hope you all had a great Christmas and Santa brought you all everything you wanted ;). The response that this story has received after only one chapter is amazing! I have like 30 people following this and already 12 reviews, it's insane! Really, I don't know how to thank you all. I'm glad that most of you like the idea of the story and you like where it might be heading. I'm trying not to ramble on because you all probably want to read the next chapter, so here it is!

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 1

* * *

Damon slung his duffel bag over his shoulder as he exited the plane that he been on for the past six hours. It was weird being back in America for him, especially when he looked out the window to see trees and flowers instead of sand. After spending four years in Afghanistan he almost forgot about how beautiful the rest of the world was.

He stepped into the lobby of Atlanta airport and when he saw that nobody was here, he was beginning to doubt if anyone even remembered that he was coming home today, he quickly did a quick scan across the lobby to see if he could recognize his brother or his mother. He had requested that the army let his mom know that he needed a ride from the airport. Did they forget? Because nobody was here to take him back to Mystic had no money for a cab either, or for a phone call for that matter.

He briefly scanned the lobby again and just when he thought that he was going to have to hitch a ride from a stranger, his eyes landed on a tall, fairly muscular man. His hair was longer than Damon remembered and was still the same sandy, blonde color. Damon smirked as his friend's hazel eyes landed on him and he couldn't keep his smirk from turning into a genuine smile when he started walking up to his friend, who was smiling like a Cheshire Cat himself. _Alaric._

"Damon. It's good to see you man." Alaric said as he rushed up to Damon and gave him a manly hug. Damon could feel the breath being squeezed out of him, but was too happy to see his friend to complain.

"I know. Four years, it's been too long." Damon replied as Alaric released him, letting Damon's lungs breathe in the air once again.

"Way too long!" Ric replied, smirking.

"How have you been anyway?" Damon asked as they started making their way out of the airport. He knew he had missed a lot in four years and he wanted to start catching up.

"I'm good man. Just taking it a day at a time, since you know.." Damon knew exactly who he was on about, Jeremy. He couldn't help but a sharp pang of guilt his gut, it didn't feel right coming back home without Jeremy. They enlisted together so it only seemed fair that they would leave together. However, fate had something different planned.

"So how are things with this Jenna girl you wrote to me about?" Damon teased with a small smile on his face, trying to keep the conversation light.

Ric had wrote to Damon about Jenna a year or two back when she first moved to Mystic Falls. Jenna was Miranda's younger sister and she moved back to Mystic Falls after finishing her degree in Florida. Alaric was immediately taken by her and soon after they started dating. Damon could remember all the lovey-dovey crap that Ric had wrote in the letter and he was looking forward to meeting the woman who captured his friend's heart. Although, he would be teasing his friend about some of the content in the letters. Shakespeare was really not Ric's thing.

"Yeah she's good. Everyone's just been trying to cope with what happened to Jeremy, that's all." Ric replied and Damon pushed the guilt he was feeling away before giving his friend a small smile.

"Oh..." Damon paused for a second, trying to form words "Well how is everyone?" he finally asked.

To be honest, Damon was wondering how Jeremy's sister, Elena was holding up. She was fairly young when he and Jeremy left for the marines, she must have only been about fourteen going on fifteen. He smiled for a second, thinking about that one time when she scolded him and Jeremy. She was worried sick about them and when they stormed into their house, shitfaced after he and Jeremy had gotten into a fight with some guys at a bar, she went absolutely nuts. It was hard to imagine that she was only fourteen as she was giving them the 'I'm disappointed in you both' speech as they hung their heads.

"They're okay; I guess. As okay as you can be when you buried someone you love two weeks ago." Ric replied and Damon wondered how he was holding up. Jeremy was his best friend as well.

"I know. I wish I could have made it." Damon said quietly, just another thing to add to his list of things to feel like shit over.

"Yeah it was a good send off. Hey, all of this emotional shit is making me want to get hammered, man. Not good with all that stuff." Alaric wasn't the type of guy to pour his feelings out to someone, he's a lot like Damon in that respect. He just buries his pain through the help of alcohol. A _lot_ of alcohol.

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. In fact, I could use a drink and a burger now. It's been far too long since I've had the pleasure of eating decent food." Both men laughed as they made their way to Ric's car, welcoming the change of conversation. "You still drive this piece of shit?" Damon blurted out and started laughing again once Ric's car came into view.

"Hey, watch your mouth! This isn't some 'piece of shit'. In case you forgot, this beauty got us away from the cops on more than one occasion remember!" Ric exclaimed, offended that Damon would say such a thing. Damon thought back to those days for a brief moment and smiled. An eighteen year old Damon _definitely_ lived on the edge.

"I know, I know. I just thought that you'd have another car by now. I mean, it's been what? Six years?" Damon chuckled as he looked at the serious expression on Ric's face.

"Five actually and hell no! This is my baby right here." Ric's expression turned soft and his lips formed that cheesy smile that Damon had missed, not that he'd tell him that.

"I wonder what Jenna thinks about you caring more about your car than her, you know I could always keep Jenna company while you're busy with your car." Damon suggested, wiggling his eyebrows at Ric as his friend just glared at him. His reaction was hilarious!

"What? Fuck off, Damon. Yeah okay, she'd probably _think _you were hot in all your macho man glory. Then she would get to know you or you would open your mouth and she would realise what a dick you are. She'd forget all about your chiseled jaw and wouldn't look at you twice." Ric laughed as Damon's smirk fell into a thin line.

"Chiseled jaw? Really Ric..." Damon scowled, before his lips reluctantly turned into a smile. It was hard not to smile after finally being re-united with is best friend.

Damon slapped Ric on the back as they made their way to the car. It felt good to be with him again properly after all these years. They kept in touch through letters but they hadn't seen each other in years and it felt great to have one of his best friends back, even if the other man to "Team Badass" was not here.

"Come on, I owe you a drink." Damon smiled and they both got into the rust-bucket that his friend called a car.

The ride back to Mystic Falls was excruciating for Damon, he had forgotten how long the drive was from Atlanta back to Mystic Falls. They must of been driving for the past two hours already and he didn't even know how long they had left. It didn't help that Alaric was playing country music, the worst type of music that he could even imagine, he was more of a rock music lover. Deciding that it was probably best if he got some sleep, he slouched down in his seat and rested his head against the window. He could feel the jet-lag starting to kick in and with the exhaustion combined with the smooth voice of Taylor Swift, it wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep, his head resting against the window beside him.

* * *

_"So they sent all of you punks to become Marines? Pfft... What kind of joke are they playing?" The Drill __Sergeant shouted as he made his way in-front of all the new Privates. Damon looked forward, straightening his back as the Sergeant strutted past him, inspecting every Private with his hawk eyes._**_  
_**

_"Well seeing as I'm the one whose going to have to put up with all of you for the next few months, there are a few things that I'm going to make clear before you begin your training. For starters, there is no 'I', 'Me' or 'Mine' any more. Those words are banned from your vocabulary from this moment on-wards. In fact, those words don't exist anymore." The Drill Sergeant screamed as he stood in-front of them. Despite only knowing the man screaming at him for a few seconds, Damon didn't particularly like him much. While the speech he was giving was inspirational, he didn't like the fact that the man in-front of him had so much control over him. It reminded him of his father._ 'Probably should have thought about that before joining the Marines, idiot.' _Damon mentally chastised himself._

_"There are no lone wolves in the Marine Corps! You're all a team, brothers. From now on you're going to be eating as a team, sleeping as a team and more importantly, training as a team. Get to know the people here because for the next six months you're going to be living together, eating together, sweating and bleeding together. Do you understand?" The Sergeant continued as he moved to one of the men beside Damon and Jeremy._

_The Drill Sergeant screamed into the face of the man next to where Jeremy and Damon were stood next to each other. They both made the decision to become Marines a few weeks ago and when they found out that they would be training together in the same unit, they were overjoyed._

_"He reminds me of my dad." Damon couldn't help but whisper into his friends' ear, the situation that they were in reminded him of high school, being forbidden to speak in class and being the monumental jackass that he was, he had to go against the rules. The rule of not speaking challenged him and of course, him being well... him, he just had to break the rules. He heard Jeremy chuckle a little bit and when he thought nobody had noticed the exchange that they were having, everything suddenly went silent and of course that's when he turned his head around he saw the Drill Sergeant glaring at him._

_The Drill Sergeant came marching over, in front of Damon and quickly looked him up and down. The man's gaze irritated Damon and as the man inspected him, he was looking at Damon as if he was lower than dirt and that really pissed him off. It reminded him of how his father used to look at him, full of regret and disappointment. The Sergeant finally spoke up with a large voice which intimidated Damon, although he would never admit it._

_"Private Salvatore. Would you like to share with the rest of us what you felt was so important that you and Private Gilbert needed to disrespect me, please?" Damon glanced at Jeremy quickly before gulping, like every other time he opened his mouth, Damon had landed them in the shit now._

_"Nothing sir." Damon replied, trying to keep his voice neutral. He couldn't really think of anything else to say, he didn't want to infuriate his Drill Sergeant any more than he already had and he didn't think saying _'Oh you just remind me of my jackass father, that's all.'_ would help him out much._

_"Good. Now both of you drop and give me fifty." The Sergeant replied nonchalantly, watching as Damon looked at him confused._

_"Excuse me?" Damon blurted and bit his tongue__ from saying anymore._

_"Excuse me?" The Sergeant replied in disbelief, Damon smirked a little knowing that he was probably the first person to ever challenge the man in front of him. "Fine, with that attitude. Gilbert give me fifty, Salvatore you give me one hundred." Damon clenched his fists, really? One hundred, that was a little extreme for crying out loud, all he did was whisper something._

_Reluctantly, Damon dropped down to the ground and began his push-ups as the rest of the Recruits were dismissed, leaving only Damon and Jeremy alone with one of the Sergeant's watching over them silently. The push-ups weren't hard at all for Damon and Jeremy. After all, back in Mystic Falls they both trained a lot, Damon liked to stay in good shape and they both trained a lot back home; one hundred push-ups were easy for him. It wasn't the fact that he had to do one hundred push-ups, it was the fact that he had to do them over such a petty thing. He had a feeling that basic training was going to be a bitch for him. _

_"You're such a dick, Damon." Jeremy laughed as he reached his last push-up. Damon watched as he sat on the ground once he had finished, for a quick breather. Damon was still doing his set of push-ups, feeling a little pissed that he had twice as much as Jeremy to do. "Shouldn't you be done already? Looks like 'Bruce Lee's illegitimate son' is getting tired." Jeremy mocked, referring to the cocky nickname Damon had given himself after a session at the gym one day._

_"Hey, fuck you man. I have twice as much to do as you!" Damon laughed as he continued his press-ups._

_"That's no excuse man. Wait until everyone finds out I beat you, the girls will come running to me when we get back home, not you." Jeremy smirked at Damon and both of them burst out laughing. _

* * *

The sudden stopping of the car jerked Damon forward, awakening him from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes trying to adjust them to the light that was shining through the glass window. Once he could finally see properly again, he looked out the window to see the Salvatore Boarding House. How long had he even been asleep?

Damon's mind wandered back to the dream he experienced earlier, it was one of the many memories he had with Jeremy in the Marine Corps. It was mad to think that he was such a hothead back then, Afghanistan really helped mature him. It was scary to think what type of man he would have become if he didn't join the Marines and he was still the irresponsible kid that left town years ago. It was just another reason that he was thankful for joining the Corps.

"Hey, Damon. Are you going to get out or what? Listen, I know I'm such amazing company and you _love_ my car, but don't you think you should go see your mom and Stefan?" Damon was brought back to reality as he heard Ric teasing him. With words failing him, he just nodded at his friend.

"Yeah sorry, I was just thinking. We still on for tonight at the Grill?" He finally managed to say after several moments in the car.

"Yeah sure, I'll meet you there at like eight." Damon smirked at his friend and stepped out of the car onto the driveway of the Salvatore Boarding House. The house hadn't changed much in the four years that he spent over seas. The garden at the front of the house was still spectacular to look at, each flower blossoming and each blade of grass cut to perfection. He smiled to himself as he walked up the driveway to the house with one thought in his head; it felt good to be back in Mystic Falls.

Damon opened the door to the Boarding House, inspecting the inside as he walked in. The interior was exactly the same as it was four years ago as well. There were some minor changes such as more paintings and plants but the overall design was still the dark red Tudor style that his mother had designed when she first moved to Mystic Falls many years ago. He dropped his bag onto the wooden floor and stepped through into the living room. He spotted the liquor cabinet in the corner of the room and his eyes practically lit up. It had been _years_ since he'd had a nice glass of Bourbon.

"Well I was expecting a big welcoming home party, but I guess a forty six year old bottle of whiskey will have to do." he chuckled to himself as he poured the Bourbon into one of the tumblers. He hesitantly took a mouthful of the expensive liquor and welcomed the burning sensation in his throat; it had been too long since he'd been able to enjoy a glass of whiskey. He remembered how he and Jeremy used to sneak his father's whiskey out for when they went out on the weekends. Of course, his father always found out but nevertheless, the next weekend would come and they would do the exact same thing, regardless of the consequences.

"Oh my god, Damon. You're back!" he was soon brought back into reality when he heard his mothers' voice. The sweet, soft voice that reassured him many times when he was a child. Damon turned around to see her for the first time in four years and tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he took in his mothers' beauty.

Her long, brown hair now had a small tint of grey since he last saw her and as her locks cascaded down her shoulders in curls, he had never seen her look as beautiful as she did now. He piercing blue eyes bore into him, the same ones that he inherited when he was born were now shining brightly as tears started falling from them. As he looked into his mothers' eyes, he saw a vary of emotions flashing in them and when her lips curved upwards and he saw that massive smile that he had missed so much, he knew that she was _happy_.

"Ma, you look as beautiful as ever." Damon said as he stepped into his mothers' arms, giving her the biggest hug that he could while he fought to restrain the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

"I was so worried, Damon. I thought I'd never see you again!" Sofia replied, breaking down in her son's arms; she had been imagining this moment for days, it definitely hadn't sunk in yet that her son was home.

"It's okay, Ma. I'm home now and I'm not going anywhere." He whispered into her ear, embracing her with everything he had. He had been bracing himself for this moment for days now, he had missed his family so much that this was possibly the best day of his life right now, to be reunited with them.

"So... where's Stefan?" Damon asked, wondering where his younger brother was.

"He's over his girlfriend's house or something, I'll go call him and tell him to come home." Sofia replied hastily, reaching for the phone to call his brother.

"No, Ma. Its fine. I'm actually heading to the Grill soon with Ric. Besides, I want to surprise him when he comes home tomorrow." Damon smiled and quickly looked at his watch, it was almost seven. He figured that he might as well go to the Grill early, he needed a drink. The emotional home coming he received from his mother was quite draining and if he was being honest, he wanted to reacquaint himself with his friend, Bourbon.

"Okay, sure honey. Don't get too drunk though, I don't want you to end up in hospital on your first night home." Sofia replied with a small smile.

His mother liked to tease him about his more embarrassing moments and in this case, she was teasing him about when he ended up in hospital on his 18th birthday. After going a bit overboard and drinking too much, Ric dared him to attempt a back-flip of a tree. Needless to say that it didn't end well, with Damon fracturing his arm on his birthday and his mother having to be called to come pick him up. His father had gone nuts...

Damon smiled at his mother, it was nice to know that she cared so much for him and Stefan, unlike his father. She made up for Giuseppe not loving them by loving them herself twice as much. He still remembered the day that his father had walked out on them to go start a new life in New York. Damon had been seventeen at the time and didn't understand why his father was leaving them. The worst was having to explain to an thirteen year old Stefan why his father was not coming back, it was heartbreaking.

He felt terrible when he left for the Marines and he left his family alone with just themselves to rely on each other. There wasn't a day that he never thought about them and the fact that he didn't know whether they were okay or not killed him over the years. He was back now though and he wasn't going anywhere, he was home and it was his duty now to make sure that they had everything they wanted, he owed them that much.

Money wasn't an issue for them as they had more than enough to make sure that none of them needed to work ever again. The Salvatore's were a founding family which meant that they were one of the first to discover the town. They had come from a very old, wealthy family and his father had run a very successful business in the town, before he moved away. Although they had more than enough money, Damon still wanted his brother to have some kind of qualification under his name. When he joined the Marines, he learnt a sense of self accomplishment and he felt how great it was to do something independently for the first time in his life and he wanted the same for Stefan, he owed him that at least.

After catching up with his mother for another hour or two, Damon finally managed to drag his bags upstairs to settle back into his bedroom. When he opened the door to his bedroom, he was surprised to say the least when he noticed that nothing had changed. Not in the slightest. It was exactly how he remembered it. The large king size bed with pillars was still positioned in the corner of the room with a small table to the side, with his favorite book; 'Gone With The Wind' still placed on top. The Persian rug that took up half of the parquet flooring was still there while the rest of the room was still surrounded by mahogany bookcases and wardrobes, full of all the books he had and all the clothes he'd obtained over the years.

Throwing his duffel bag onto the floor beside his bed, he quickly made his way into his en-suite bathroom to freshen up. His bathroom was still the same as well; the large bathtub was still against the black walls along with the shower that was positioned in the corner of the room. If Damon loved one thing more than whiskey, it was probably his bathroom.

Deciding that it was best if he had a shower before he went out, Damon decided that a hot shower was just what he needed. After being abroad for years, a hot shower was a hard thing to come by so knowing that he could enjoy a hot shower everyday from now on made him thankful for coming home.

Once he finished having a shower, Damon threw on a pair of dark wash jeans, a grey V-neck shirt and his favorite black leather jacket and biker boots to finish off his outfit. He looked at himself in the mirror; his hair was slightly tousled and the stubble on his chin was clearly visible. He debated whether or not to shave for a few minutes, but finally decided that he would wait until morning to shave, after all he wasn't going out to pick up any women, he was going for a drink with his friend.

Damon picked up his wallet up off the bedside table and made his way for the Grill. Another great thing about small towns like Mystic Falls was that everything was near enough in walking distance.

When he entered the Grill he was not prepared for what he saw. The place was entirely different, unlike the Boarding house. The restaurant had been refurbished completely. The place was bigger, there were more seats and the place looked more modern while still sticking to the small town vibe it had. He thought back to when it was just a small bar, it was nice but now it looked like the main point of interest in Mystic Falls.

He walked up to the bar and sat down on the bar stool, looking over to the attractive barmaid. Of course they would use attractive women to lure the bachelors of Mystic Falls to the bar. No wonder Ric spent most of his time here. Damon called over the blonde barmaid and smirked when she shot him a bright smile, her eyes full of hunger and lust.

"Hey there, handsome. I haven't seen you around here before." The blonde said in a British accent and he had to admit, it was sexy as hell.

"Yeah well, I just got back in town. So what's your name gorgeous?" Damon asked with a small smirk as he saw the blush creep up on the woman's cheeks.

"Rebekah Mikaelson. So... do I get to know your name?" Rebekah replied battling her eyelashes at him.

Damon quickly looked the woman over. She had long, straightened blonde hair that fell down to her shoulders and icy blue eyes that rivaled his own. She also had fair skin that complimented her hair and eyes beautifully which made her a knockout. Rebekah was wearing a white t-shirt with the Grill's logo on, typically indicating that she worked at the bar. The t-shirt was cut low at the chest, giving him and everyone else a brilliant view of her breasts. While he had to admit that she was hot, she wasn't really his type, he was more into brunettes than blondes. That being said, he hadn't flirted in years and he was definitely enjoying the attention he was getting, it looked like he still had the Salvatore charm after all.

"Damon, Damon Salvatore." Damon watched as her eyes zeroed in on him and she took her bottom lip into her mouth, biting down on it a little.

"Well _Damon_. What can I get you?" Rebekah asked, leaning forward and pushing her cleavage further into view.

"Bourbon please, on the rocks." Damon replied with a small loop-sided smirk.

After having a few more drinks, he checked his watch. He still had fifteen minutes until Ric would be here. After ordering another whiskey to bide the time, he spun around in the chair and scanned the Grill for anything interesting. He hadn't seen much of the place since he had come in and it shocking to see how much he had missed when he went overseas. As he was taking in the refurbished room, he caught a glimpse of the blonde girl in the corner who he noticed had been ogling him for the past half hour. Did he miss something, or was Mystic Falls now suddenly full of blonde girls?

He hadn't had a chance to really look at the woman who was ogling him from the booth at the back but when he finally caught her in the corner, she was attractive to say the least. She had long blonde locks, much like the barmaid that fell down just below her shoulders in curls. She had sparkling green eyes that shone in the lights. The woman was wearing a blue dress that reached just up to her thighs and had a black belt draped across the dress, she had most of the men in Mystic Falls drinking her in hungrily.

She looked around the age of twenty but she could have been younger, she definitely looked older than what she probably was.

Damon heard the door open and when he spun around on the bar stool to see if Ric had finally made it to the Grill, he saw a group of people bound into the bar, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changing into an upbeat one. He quickly scanned over the group of people to see if Ric was with them. Disappointed that his best friend wasn't among them, he was about to spin back around to his drink when his eyes were drawn to someone he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. He couldn't believe his eyes when they landed on _her._

* * *

AN: Here's Damon! I hope that you liked his introduction into the story. I know that the chapter was mostly filler and there wasn't any Delena action, but there will be some in the next one :D. I also apologize for any spelling mistakes or errors that you see, I haven't had much of a chance to properly edit the chapter and I really wanted to get this out for you guys. I'd also really like to read your opinions and if you have any suggestions for the story, don't be afraid to review! Reviews are love and I love each and every one of you guys that take the time to review.


	3. Chapter 2

AN: I am once again blown away from the response that this story is receiving so far, nothing more inspirational than seeing so many people enjoy my writing. I know that I haven't replied to some of you guys yet but I will. I just really wanted to write this chapter for you all. So here's chapter two :P.

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 2

* * *

Damon couldn't believe what he was seeing when his eyes fell upon the brunette walking through the entrance of the Grill. Her brunette locks fell just below her shoulders much like the blonde he saw moments ago but she had failed in comparison to the gorgeous woman he was seeing now. Her hair fell gracefully and seemed natural whereas the blonde's seemed like she had spent hours fixing it to her liking. His eyes momentarily flickered down her body, taking her appearance in. Her chocolaty brown eyes complimented her olive skin perfectly and only helped build the image of perfection that was slowly creeping its way into his mind.

He watched as she sat down in the same booth as the blonde, he couldn't keep his eyes of her. She was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that clung to her body in all the right ways possible. She had a black tank top on with a picture of fangs and 'Bite Me' written on the top and oh how he wanted to do more than just bite her. The shirt's neckline was ridiculously low which revealed a small amount of cleavage. To top it all off she was wearing a black leather jacket which hugged her frame perfectly, her whole look just made her the epitome of sexy.

For the first time in his life, Damon was in awe over the beauty that this girl possessed. '_Who was this girl and what was she doing to me?' _he thought as he hungrily took in more of her appearance.

Damon focused on the girl across the room from him, blocking everything and everyone else out. No girl had ever affected him this much before, not even Katherine and he had followed her around like a lost puppy for years without a care in the world before she revealed her true colors. The truth was, he was simply captivated by this mystery girl.

He had to know her name. He _needed_ to know who she was.

Downing the rest of his drink, Damon was more than ready to stalk over there and find out exactly who this woman girl was. The bar had quietened down while he was in his trance and just as he was about to walk over there, the mystery identity of the girl was soon discovered when he heard her giggle. A sweet, angelic giggle that he had heard a thousand times, he practically grew up with the same laugh for crying out loud! He could tell whose laugh that belonged to anywhere, it belonged to one Elena Gilbert.

Since when had Jeremy's sister become so... so _beautiful_?

Of course, four years ago he knew that she was a pretty girl for a fourteen year old, but he hadn't allowed himself to actually really look at her. Not in that way anyway, his friendship to Jeremy was too important to him. But why was he only noticing how beautiful she truly was until now? '_Oh that's right, you were smitten over Katherine'_ he chastised. All the time he spent chasing a girl that never loved him, he had missed just how attractive his best friend's sister really was.

Jesus! Why was he even still thinking about it now? Nothing's changed, Jeremy's still his best friend which means that Elena is off limits. _'Don't you dare go there Salvatore! She's your best friend's sister!' _Although he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but let his mind wander at the possibilities.

Although they did sometimes have what some would call tender moments, like the time he had gotten into a fight protecting a very drunk Jeremy and Elena had spent her Friday night cleaning him up, he doubted that Elena ever thought anything more of him than being her brother's jackass friend, who happened to have a big ego. He hadn't even noticed Ric come up beside him until he felt his friend's hand pat him on the shoulder to gain his attention. Damon reluctantly tore his eyes away from Elena and spun around to his friend, plastering on a small smile.

"So how's life now that you're back in Mystic Falls?" Ric asked as he took a mouthful of the whiskey that had just been placed in front of him.

"You mean the whole four hours? Well I don't know where to start, so much has happened." Damon trailed off, lacing his tone with sarcasm.

"Shut up you dick. I meant there's obviously someone who has caught your attention, judging by how I had to call you like three times to get you to even notice I was here." Ric replied smugly. _'I bet he wouldn't be as smug if he knew _exactly_ who had my attention.'_

"Well I've got my eye on someone." Damon smirked and looked at the attractive barmaid that had been serving him his drinks. What was her name again? Rachel? Isabella? No wait... Rebekah, that was it.

He smirked up to her as she caught on to what he was saying, no doubt. Rebekah, for probably the fifth time that night blushed at his comment and shot him a wide, flirtatious smile back. Ric quickly looked at the exchange between the two before shaking his head and taking another mouthful of his whiskey.

"Some things never change." Ric retorted before grinning at Damon.

"Hey! Let's be honest now Ric. Why would anyone want me to change? I'm awesome." Damon shrugged and gave his trademark smirk.

Throughout the night, Damon quickly glanced over towards Elena to see if she were looking at him. The blonde's eyes were still firmly planted on him, just like they had been before Elena had come. He wasn't interested in Blondie's baby blues though, he was only interested in one set of eyes, and they happened to be big, doe brown ones. After taking another mouthful of his drink and sneaking another glance at Elena while trying to maintain conversation with Alaric, he noticed another guy sat in the booth next to Elena with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, possessively. _'Figures, of course she's going to have a boyfriend'_ he thought as he took a mouthful of whiskey, enjoying the small burn in the back of his throat.

* * *

Elena couldn't help but feel smothered. Tyler had kept her by his side for the past hour, since he'd arrived at the bar. She hadn't even been able to get up and get her own drink, with Tyler always insisting that he would get her one. She guessed that this was his way of trying to make up for what happened the other day. Still, he was acting very strange. He hadn't acted out like a jackass towards her or her friends for the past week and Elena couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. It was entirely out of character for Tyler Lockwood, after all.

She came to the conclusion that he obviously wanted something and was just buttering her up, he was so transparent when he was like this. Although she decided to test her theory, just in case.

"Guys my glass is empty, I'm gonna go get another drink okay?" Elena plastered on a sweet smile and tried once more to get some space between her and Tyler. She really want another drink yet, she didn't want to get completely wasted. She just wanted to not be at arm's length with Tyler for five minutes.

Elena stood up, attempting to break herself free from the smothering arms that wrapped themselves around her. She was just about to walk to the bar when an arm shot out and took her wrist, the grip on her wrist was tight and slightly painful making her wince, the amount of pressure that was being applied to her wrist not necessary.

"Sit-down Elena, I'll get it." Tyler shot her a smirk before climbing out of the booth.

Elena rubbed her wrist as she watched Tyler bounce over to the bar, ordering her another drink. She wondered what type of game he was playing. He was acting possessive over her all night, she hadn't even been able to take a look around the bar. Whenever her eyes strayed away from their table, Tyler would snap her attention back to him for some reason unknown to her, which only made her suspicions worse. Elena watched him pull out his phone while he was at the bar, she looked on as a small, predatory smirk appeared on his lips before he typed out a message into his phone.

_'What's got him smiling like that?'_ she wondered. He was obviously texting someone and she'd never seen him smile like that when he was texting his mother or one of his friends.

"Who was that?" Elena asked out of curiosity, nodding to his phone as he walked back to the table, her drink in hand.

She knew that she wasn't the most attractive girl in Mystic Falls and the reputation that Tyler had definitely scared her at times. She didn't want to be the girl who worried about her boyfriend cheating on her but she couldn't help all the doubts and insecurities creep in from time to time, especially when he had girls hitting on him left, right, and center.

"Nobody babe." Tyler replied, cryptically.

Elena eyed him wearily. She knew that he wasn't being honest with her, she'd seen him with her own two eyes! She wondered just who exactly he'd been texting moments ago at the bar. Unfortunately though, she knew that she wouldn't be able to confront him about it even though she wanted too. He'd just turn it against her and they'd have another argument and that was something that they definitely did _not_ need right now.

"It's just, I saw you at the bar..." she trailed off, giving him the benefit of the doubt by telling her who he had been texting.

"Oh _that_? Yeah uh... that was just my dad." he replied and Elena caught his hesitation.

Of course it was his dad... right? She wanted to believe him, she really did, but she knew that Tyler and his father didn't have the greatest relationship at the best of times and she'd certainly never seen him smile like that before.

"What did he want?" Elena asked with a small smile, ignoring her heart drop in her chest.

"He just wanted to know what time i'd be back, that's all." Tyler replied before wrapping his arm around her possessively again.

Elena decided to try and put her doubts aside and enjoy the night. Caroline had most likely spent a lot of her time preparing it and making sure that all her friends were free to do this for her so she had to at least try to enjoy herself. She wasn't going to let Tyler ruin another night out with her friends. The three of them sat in the booth for another half hour, waiting for Bonnie. Tyler was being as arrogant as he always was, if not more and Caroline was struggling to keep her snide comments about him at bay. _'I really hope Bonnie turns up soon.' _she thought, watching the two bicker back and forth.

Tyler still hadn't allowed her to get her own drink yet and the only time that she managed to even get out of the booth without him was when she and Caroline went to the toilet together. She was really beginning to regret asking him to come out with them tonight. Elena wondered what was up with him tonight, he didn't usually ask this possessive or protective over her. She had to admit though, it was quite nice to have his attention for the whole night, just it would be a whole lot more fun if she able to actually move without his piercing gaze on her.

They were sat in the booth when Elena heard another vibration come from Tyler, indicating that he'd received another text. She watched as he excused himself and went to the men's bathroom, no doubt to answer his text. She really didn't know why she was so suspicious of Tyler as of late, she didn't know whether it was Tyler just acting shady or if Caroline's words were finally starting to make some sense in her head now. All she knew was that judging from the texts he had been receiving tonight and the fact that he goes missing a couple of times a week for hours; he was keeping secrets from her.

"Hey babe. Something's come up... i'm gonna have to go, okay?" Tyler said sweetly as he came back from the restroom.

"Why, what's come up?" Elena asked, trying to figure out why all of a sudden he wanted to leave after spending the last hour attached to her hip.

"My mom want's me to help out with stuff for the bonfire at The Falls. I can stay if you want though babe?" he said quickly.

"Uh, no it's fine. You go ahead." she replied skeptically. She didn't know if he _was_ telling the truth but if he indeed was, she didn't want to keep him from his mother.

"You're the best, 'Lena." he declared before kissing her on the forehead.

If she was being honest, it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she saw him walk out of the Grill. She felt like the chains that held her down for the past hour were finally broken now that Tyler left and she could finally have some fun with her friends. The whole situation she'd found herself in with Tyler was still in the back of her mind but she decided that now was not the time to deal with it, she'd do that in her own time later. Right now, her best friend had put in a lot of effort to make sure that she enjoyed tonight and she was determined to do exactly that.

"So now that Tyler's finally gone, where the hell is Bonnie? She should have been here ages ago!" Caroline exclaimed, taking a sip out of her cocktail.

"She text me about five minutes ago saying she'd be here soon. She's still with her Grams." Elena replied, showing the blonde her text.

After another minute or two of watching her friend stare into space, Elena looked over her shoulder quickly to see what had her friend so distracted. Her eyes were glued up by the bar and Elena had no idea why.

"Caroline, what are you looking at?" Elena asked, genuinely curious to see what or _who_ exactly, had her attention.

"You mean who? Oh just the stupidly hot guy over there." Caroline pointed up to the bar where Elena could see her uncle Ric. Elena cringed at the possibility that Caroline was on about her uncle.

"You mean Ric?" Elena asked, grimacing.

"What? Ergh, of course not stupid! The guy next to him." Elena turned her head back around again to see the _last_ person she thought would be here.

There he was, sat in all his glory right beside Ric with a glass in his hand, no doubt full of whiskey. He was wearing that unforgettable, cocky smirk that could frustrate you to the point of considering murder, yet make your knees weak at the same time. Her eyes roamed his body as he sat on the bar-stool, speaking to Ric. His raven black hair was longer than she remembered and was disheveled instead of styled, bits of his hair fell across his forehead and it seemed as though he made no effort at all to groom his hair. His jawline was stronger, chiseled and he'd also not bothered to shave and there was a hint of stubble around his jaw as evidence, but Elena had to admit, the rough look made him look even sexier.

She was then drew into those cerulean blue eyes. The ones which mirrored the ocean perfectly and if you let yourself, you'd easily get lost in. There was no doubt in her mind that any woman could look into those eyes and be lost forever. They truly were beautiful.

He wore a pair of dark-wash jeans that clung to his masculine legs perfectly, sculpting around his hips. A grey V-neck shirt which also seemed to be wrapped tightly to his chest, showcasing the definition of his muscles that were underneath. She noticed that his shoulders were broader than they were four years ago, no doubt from his training in the Marines and was more built up physically. The change in physique wasn't too much, but it was enough for her to notice. And of course, he wouldn't be Damon without his black leather jacket that hugged his muscular body, completing that 'badboy' look he'd created when he was younger.

Elena found herself staring at Damon, admiring his beautiful exterior. There was no disagreeing that when Damon was eighteen he was gorgeous and every girl in Mystic Falls wanted him, heck even Bonnie had a crush on him at one point and that was saying something. While she'd spent more time than she'd like to admit, crushing on him from a distance when she was fourteen, to describe him as gorgeous now would just seem like an understatement. She couldn't think of any words to describe him that seemed appropriate enough, the only thing coming to mind was 'Adonis'.

She studied him for a second, trying to determine whether he had changed or not. She couldn't see any major differences physically and he seemed to have no scars on his face from whatever hell he had to endure overseas. Elena began to wonder if he had been injured at all during his time in the army because it definitely didn't look like he did. If she hadn't known better, she'd never guess that he'd served four years in Afghanistan.

Elena didn't even notice that Bonnie arrived, until she tapped her on the shoulder. Judging by the surprised look on Caroline's face, she never noticed either. They were both equally lost in their fascination with Damon Salvatore.

"What are you both looking at?" Bonnie asked, looking in the same direction as her and Caroline.

"Jesus guys, are you both blind? How can you not see the drop dead gorgeous guy next to Elena's uncle?" Caroline exclaimed as Bonnie looked over at the bar towards Damon.

Elena could feel Bonnie burning a hole in her, but she refused to meet her friend's eyes. She was looking to see if she could find a reaction, after all Bonnie knew that she used to have a massive crush on him when they were fourteen, and on one occasion, she might have even admitted that she thought she loved him.

"You mean Damon?" Bonnie deadpanned, catching Caroline's attention.

"Oh my god, Bonnie! You know his name?" She replied, her eyes sparkled as ingested the new piece of information that she'd obtained. She knew his name now and Elena knew that there was nothing they could do to stop her from doing something stupid like hitting on Damon.

"He's Stefan's brother." Elena said as she drew her eyes away from the man in question to look at her friends.

"Seriously? No wonder he's so hot. The Salvatore's have good genes." Caroline replied, staring off into space now.

It was pretty much obvious to everyone except Stefan that Caroline had a thing for him. She'd liked him for almost a year now but was too stubborn to ask him out. She'd taken ridiculous methods just to spend time with him, like taking biology. Caroline _hated_ biology. Stefan, like any other guy in a situation like this, was oblivious to Care's feelings. It somehow reminded Elena of what she used to feel like looking at Damon. She used to look at him as though he was the only guy in the world, the world in the palm of his hands. All the while, he acted like he didn't have the time of day for her, he was too infatuated with Katherine Pierce to even know that she had a crush on him.

"I know, he sure is hot. What do you think Elena?" Bonnie asked and Elena immediately knew her angle. Bonnie wanted to know how _she_ felt about Damon coming back.

Caroline hadn't moved to Mystic Falls until about a year after Damon and Jeremy had left for the Marines, so she wasn't around when Damon and Jeremy were in Mystic Falls. When she moved here she was quiet and kept herself to herself but after a couple of weeks she quickly made friends with Elena and Bonnie and eventually started coming out of her shell as an outgoing, loving but stubborn person which everyone loved. All three of them had been best friends ever since.

"I'm just glad he's finally home, it was bad enough losing Jeremy." Elena replied and gave her best friends a small smile. Hopefully that was enough to avoid the interrogation that Bonnie was most likely thinking up.

"You mean he's a soldier like Jeremy?" Caroline asked, dreamily. Of course, Caroline's feelings for Stefan hadn't stopped her from 'appreciating' the opposite sex as she put it.

"A Marine, Care. They were Marines." Elena said matter-of-factly, thankful that her friend had steered the conversation away slightly.

"That's just made him like ten times hotter!" All three of them giggled slightly at Caroline's antics before returning back to their conversation about a certain blue-eyed man at the bar.

"He looks way to pretty to be in the military though, he hasn't got a scratch on him" Bonnie chirped in.

"So you'd rather him come back not looking sexy like he does now?" Caroline scolded her and Elena couldn't help but giggle a little.

"I need another drink. I'll get the next round." Elena said, climbing out of the booth.

She walked up to the bar, fighting the urge to look sideways to see if Damon was still at the bar. Once she made it to the bar without looking his way, which she thought should of been an accomplishment, she ordered their drinks using her fake id.

"Last time I checked, the legal drinking age is twenty-one." A velvet voice breathed into her ear, sending shivers up and down her spine.

Elena froze on the spot for a second. She could feel _his _warm breath on her skin, just a few meters away. Just the confirmation that he was there, right beside her sent her stomach into somersaults. His voice was soft and seductive, just like she remembered and it was like a magnet, pulling her into his direction.

She slowly turned around to meet two sapphire orbs, staring into her soul. She felt her legs threaten to give out, underneath her as she gripped the bar, struggling to keep her composure. After four years, this was definitely not the reaction she thought she'd have when stood face to face with Damon.

After what seemed like hours, she finally managed to pull herself out of the eyes that were beginning to mesmerize her. When she finally managed to take in his full appearance, he was wearing his trademark smirk that would most likely throw any woman astray. His grin only grew when he took in her stunned expression, his cockiness causing her to roll her eyes. _'How could he still be so cocky after being away for so long?'_ she thought as he tipped the glass he was holding into his mouth.

Recovering from her earlier surprise, she finally built up the courage to speak, hoping that her voice didn't falter. The last thing she wanted was Damon knowing the kind of effect he had on her. _'Whoa there Elena. There is no effect, that ship sailed a long time ago!"_ her conscious screamed. They were inches apart from touching, he had never been this close to her before in her life, invading her personal space and she found it thrilling and intoxicating at the same time.

"What makes you think i'm not twenty-one, stranger?" she replied, finding herself smirking as she saw his expression falter slightly. He clearly hadn't been expecting _that_ answer.

"Just a hunch." he replied with a small shrug and that eye thing that drove her insane!

"Well you're not a detective, are you?"

"No, unfortunately not. Although it is something I've been considering."

"I see you as more the army type to be honest." she smirked, enjoying the small game they were playing.

"Damon Salvatore, nice to meet you." he smiled that beautiful smile of his and held his hand out for her to shake. _'Stop thinking about his smile, Elena. You have a boyfriend!' _she had to remind herself.

"Elena Gilbert." she replied as his warm hand enveloped hers, sending her stomach into a fritz.

"So _Elena_. How does an eighteen year old get served at a bar nowadays?" he asked with that arrogant smirk back in place. If she was being honest, she was surprised that he even knew how old she was after so long.

Elena couldn't help but feel giddy inside. It was nice to know that Damon hadn't changed much from when he was eighteen. She'd read articles online about what war can do to someone and she'd seen some of the horrible injuries that people obtained while fighting for their country. The articles she read said that some people come back completely different and the people who do come back without injuries, come back pretty messed up in the head. It was nice to know that the old Damon was still in there.

"Well being eighteen didn't stop you, did it?" She smirked back at him.

"Well don't give yourself too much credit, Gilbert. Not everybody's as awesome as I am." He chuckled a little bit and winked at her making her thighs clench together, involuntarily.

"Not everybody's such a lightweight like you, Damon." she giggled as she remembered a sixteen year old Damon and Jeremy getting drunk after her father gave them a bottle of beer each at Thanksgiving.

"You wound me with such nonsense, Elena!" he replied, placing his hand over his heart, feigning hurt.

Once she stopped laughing, she caught herself locked in those blue eyes again, the playful atmosphere suddenly shifting. She had no clue what to do next, it had been four years and they'd just spent the last couple of minutes acting as though he hadn't even left. Elena took a deep breath before doing something that even shocked her. She pulled him into a hug, unable to contain her happiness at having him back home. She felt him stiffen for a second before slowly relaxing into the embrace, she relished in the warmth that she was receiving from his body. She wasn't really one for hugs by for some reason, she didn't ever want to go another day without a hug from Damon again.

"I'm glad your back, Damon. My mom will be so happy to see you." Elena whispered as she held onto Damon for as long as she could, the strong scent of his aftershave hitting her like a train. Feeling her knees begin to buckle, she quickly withdrew from the hug not wanting to collapse in the middle of the bar because of _him_.

"Yeah, i'll drop by to see her soon. So how are you doing with... everything?" he asked, his eyes softening and a sad smile replacing the smug smirk.

"I'm getting there. We buried him a few weeks ago." she replied. He deserved to know that they gave him a good burial, he was her brothers' best friend after all.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it but-"

"You don't have to apologize Damon. I know you would have been there if you could have. I'm just happy that you've made it out alive." She replied, smiling brightly.

"It takes a lot more than a few bullets to take down Damon Salvatore, Elena." he smiled smugly before bumping her shoulder, trying to lighten the mood.

"I see you haven't changed!" she said laughing a little.

"But you have, Elena. You're all... grown up now." he said in a low tone that Elena could barely hear, he took another quick glance over her body, almost appreciatively before returning his gaze to her brown eyes.

They stood like that for a few seconds, standing awkwardly thinking about what to say. She certainly hadn't missed the way he looked over her body, but surely he hadn't meant it like she thought he did? She was nothing more than his best friend's little sister who pestered him with questions about everything. Of course he wouldn't take interest in someone like her. In fact, why did she _care_ whether he took a little interest in her?

"Well Elena. I better help the old man get home before he ends up in a ditch somewhere." he said, breaking their silence. He nodded his head over to Ric to see him downing another glass of whiskey. Damon was right, if he didn't get home soon, Jenna would be worried sick.

"Yeah I think that's the best thing to do." she replied, smiling.

"Goodnight, Elena." She felt herself shiver as he basically purred her name. His velvet voice sounded so sexual that she felt guilty for even hearing the the way he said her name.

It felt as though she was already cheating on Tyler in her mind, although she wouldn't even think about doing something like that in reality. Damon Salvatore had no clue about the type of effect that he had on her. Hell, even she didn't know what he did to her, the kind of reactions her body makes just at the sound of his voice are just plain ridiculous. It was almost as if he never left at all, he still made her knees tremble without even thinking about it.

She was mad at herself for even thinking about this, she wasn't fourteen anymore and she definitely wasn't going to give in to Damon's charm again.

She looked over to Damon quickly saying his goodbyes to Alaric and then leaving. She inhaled a deep breath and carried her drinks over to the table where Caroline and Bonnie sat.

Once she sat down she handed out their drinks and Caroline quickly informed them that she needed to use the toilets. Elena knew that Bonnie would use the opportunity to find out what just happened. She looked sideways to see her friend giving her the 'look' as Caroline called it. The look which meant 'get ready for a Bonnie Bennett interrogation'.

"What was that about Elena?" Elena didn't quite know what to say. She didn't even know what just happened between them.

Obviously she was still attracted to Damon a little bit. The only difference between now and four years ago is that she isn't going to let this attraction for him take over her again like it did when she was fourteen. She wasn't about to change everything in her life now that he'd shown up again. Damon played with her emotions without knowing and he'd hurt her with his constant pining for Katherine when she was so in love with him. She was determined not to get hurt like that again, she wouldn't let Damon break her heart again!

She had a boyfriend now, she had Tyler. He might not be perfect, a little controlling and a dick to her sometimes but she wasn't going to throw away her relationship just because Damon flew back into town and she certainly didn't want too. Damon was her past and she needed to focus on the present and future, with Tyler.

"Nothing Bonnie. I'm not fourteen anymore, i'm over Damon."

* * *

AN: I hope you liked the chapter! I know that Elena might seem a little insecure and distrustful of Tyler, which might seem out of character to some of you because on the show she's incredibly loyal to her friends and boyfriends etc, but you need to understand that the reputation that he has for being a man-whore have made her cautious about him.

I'd also like to take the time to thank you all whether you've followed, favorited or reviewed. It's huge inspiration to keep writing this knowing that so many people have taken interest so thank you so much! On another note, I start college again so updates won't be as fast as they are now most likely, although i'll try! Also I know that it's a bit late but Happy New Year :D! I hope that 2013 is a great year for all of you lovely people!


	4. Chapter 3

AN: I'm sorry that this one isn't as quick as the others but updates are going to be slower than before now that I've gone back to college, unfortunately. Also not to sound like a broken record or anything but thank you all so much for reviewing and taking interest in this story! I don't know if some of you are sick of reading me saying thank you but I really can't express how much i'm thankful of you all! Anyway, as if you actually want to read an author's note by me, here's the new chapter and get ready for some more D/E interaction!

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 3

* * *

"You know, i'm really tired of all this sneaking around Ty." Vickie said, laying beside him in the bed.

Tyler had just spent the last two hours in bed with Vickie Donovan, doing unspeakable things to each other. She was a great distraction from who he really wanted, and he wanted Elena really bad. To him this relationship he had with Vickie was purely physical, no feelings involved. While Vickie on the other hand, he knew she had true feelings for him. She loved him even, she admitted it. She was waiting for him to dump Elena so that they could finally be together while he was just using her for a good fuck, waiting until Elena gave him exactly what he wanted.

"It will all be over soon, just give me another week or two, just to break the news to her." Tyler replied as he shifted in the bed to face her.

Of course, he had not intention of 'breaking the news' to Elena. He wanted to hold on to her for as long as he could until he de-flowered her. He knew the chances of him actually sleeping with her at the bonfire was slim to none, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

"I don't know why you're with that slut anyway!" Vickie replied, bitterly.

"It doesn't matter anymore, I love you." he lied, hoping she would take the bait and believe him.

Tyler looked into her eyes as they shone brightly in adoration. He felt smug inside, she'd actually fell for him. He could see it in her eyes. With her loving him, she makes a useful pawn that he can use in his plans. Tyler was confident that whatever he asked, she'd comply gratefully and he was going to use that to his advantage.

"I know, I just don't see why you have to spare her the heartache. She's a stuck up bitch." she replied, grimacing.

It was no secret to him that Vickie hated Elena. He chocked it up to the fact that she had everything, a loving family, great friends, she was beautiful and most of all, she had _him_. While Vickie's mother left at an early age, leaving Matt to pick up the pieces. Vickie went off the deep-end, she started partying and drinking heavily, which eventually led to her doing drugs. She started off small with marijuana but her need for drugs eventually escalated and she soon started taking everything from cocaine to prescribed drugs from the pharmacy.

"It's not like you have to wait long. Anyway, stop making this about Elena." he reasoned, sitting up against the headboard of the bed.

"Why not? Every is about Elena! Sweet, innocent Elena." she mocked, springing out from the bed with fury in her eyes.

"You're one to talk, Vick! How's Stefan Salvatore these days?" Tyler replied, moving to stand face to face with her.

Of course he knew all about her little play-dates with Stefan, everybody fucking knew. Stefan Salvatore, once the golden-boy now turned druggie. He was just like Vickie, couldn't get any acceptance at home so he turned to her. Tyler really pitied them both, their lives were so horrible that they had to turn to each other to make themselves feel better. He could understand why Stefan chose Vickie though, in a way. She was a good fuck and an easy access to drugs, while all Stefan was to her was a way to _pay_ for the drugs and someone she could have some fun with until he 'broke' up with Elena.

"Oh come on Vick. Did you really think that I wouldn't find out about him?" he carried on as she just looked at him, shocked and no doubt trying to find an excuse, not that one was needed. He really didn't care who she was with in her spare time as long as she was at his beck and call.

"I-I swear it's nothing. It's just, you can't always see me because of _her. _I get lonely Ty." she replied and he couldn't help but laugh, she really was a slut.

He didn't really want her blabbing her mouth to anyone before his plan was complete though, he knew that Vickie couldn't keep her mouth shut purely based on the fact that thanks to her, he knew little secrets about most of the girls in Mystic Falls High. If he pissed her off, he had no doubt in his mind that she'd go shooting her mouth off to everyone and then Elena would have some questions that he definitely didn't want to answer. His mind wandered to last night at the bar and how he spent the majority of the night sucking up to her and her friends. Ever since that morning drive to school where he accidentally caused an argument between them, she'd distanced herself from him and he knew that for his plan to work, he needed the opposite.

Tyler didn't fail to notice all the men in the bar last night who had their eyes on Elena. Hell, the one guy at the bar with black hair and blue eyes hadn't taken his eyes of her for more than a few minutes. He don't know if he made it clear enough to the guy that Elena was his, but he felt a sudden urge of possessiveness and jealousy course through his veins when he saw the man drink in his girl's appearance, hungrily. He knew that Elena wasn't the type of girl to cheat on someone but still, he didn't like knowing that there was someone in Mystic Falls who was interested in her. Someone that could take he away from from him.

"Tyler are you even listening to me?" Vickie's voice grated off like nails on chalkboard, interrupting his deep thoughts about Elena.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I said, i'll stop seeing Stefan. I'll do anything, I only want _you_." she pleaded.

"It's fine Vick, I hate the fact that you're sleeping with him but I know you have needs. And until I can find a way to break it off with Elena, you should continue seeing him." he replied, really meaning that until he slept with Elena once, or maybe a few times. Until then though, he was going to put off breaking up with Elena.

He wasn't about to leave Elena for Vickie anyway. He only promised her that he'd be with her so she'd keep her mouth shut. He had to cover all his bases after all, so this wouldn't blow up in his face.

"But I don't want him, Ty. I want you!" she begged, tears rimming her eyes.

"Hey it's only for a little while, just until I find a way to end things." he softened his voice, trying to get her to calm down.

He moved closer to her and placed a soft kiss on her lips, the one thing he didn't need right now was Vickie going off the deep end. The soft kiss soon escalated and before he knew it, Vickie's tongue was half way down his throat and his hands found their way to her hips, to hold her still.

"I _love_ you." he said to her and he felt as though he could throw up for even muttering such words to her.

* * *

Elena woke up with sweat dripping from her forehead. Those deep blue eyes plagued her dreams all night long, that along with head full of onyx hair that she'd imagined threading her fingers through. She rubbed her head, trying to get the images of _him_ out of her mind and looked to her right to see the flashing red digits on her alarm clock. The number on the clock indicated that it was way too early think about getting up, especially since it was a Sunday. The last day of the weekend was usually spent lounging around all day in her pj's watching movies or reading books.

Today was definitely no exception either. She had no intention what so ever of leaving her bed, the outside world could wait until Monday as far as she was concerned. She felt her head pound slightly, the after effects of the alcohol she consumed last night finally hitting her. She quickly noticed the glass of water and aspirin on the bedside table.

_'Thank you mom!'_ she thought before quickly swallowing the tablets, using the water to wash them down smoothly.

She quickly got to her feet, a little too quickly and felt the room spinning around her. She held onto the bedside table for support and tried to steady herself.

She hadn't even planned to get drunk last night when she went to the Grill with her friends, but obviously judging by the pounding in her stomach and the uneasy way her stomach felt, she had. Her plan last night was just to get a little tipsy, buzzed. It was a night that she was meant to spend celebrating her brother. The night out was in his memory, but then _he_ had to show up...

Damon turning up at the bar came out of the blue. When she first saw him at the bar with Ric, a million questions filtered through her head at once. Why hadn't anyone told her Damon was back already? How was he doing? The main question she wanted an answer for herself though was why does he still have _this_ effect on her?

Everything was fine before he came back into her life. She has great friends, a great family and Tyler. He was far from being perfect but he had stuck by her in her lowest moment; when Jeremy had died. He was there when she needed him most, supporting her. But now that he's back in her life, everything seems complicated. She was overjoyed when she first heard that Damon was coming home, but she never imagined she would feel like this. All it took was five minutes with him at the bar and all those feelings she felt when she was fourteen slowly started to try and creep their way back in.

She spent months burying those feelings that she had for him all those years ago when he left for the Marines. Hell, she'd cried over him god knows how many times, and now he's been back for not even a whole day and she could already begin to feel those feelings banging on her heart like a door, begging for her to open her heart to them again. It wasn't fair.

She heard a knock on her door, interrupting her from her thoughts, followed by her mother's voice from the other side.

"Elena, hunny. Are you decent?" she heard her mother ask from outside her room.

"Yeah mom, i'm dressed." Elena chuckled as her mother walked in.

She considered herself lucky to have her mom, she was arguably her best friend in the whole world. Her mother appreciated her and respected her and they would spend hours at night sitting on the couch, just speaking about everything. Her mom also respected her privacy and while most mothers would probably just barge into their daughters' bedroom without any warning, she knocked first and gave Elena a warning before she came in.

Elena smiled at her mom as she walked into the room, looking as beautiful as ever. Miranda was in her opinion, the most gorgeous woman she'd ever seen although she was slightly biased, of course. She was dressed up in her formal clothes and she looked elegantly beautiful. Her brown, wavy hair cascaded down past her shoulders and her big brown eyes reflected in the light that she'd just switched on.

"Honey, i'm sorry for barging in here but I really need you to do me a big favor, please." Miranda asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Elena had a terrible feeling that it involved her leaving the house, she had no intentions of leaving the house. Today was movie day, and she'd originally made plans to spend the whole day with John McClain because yes, she does have a small obsession with Die Hard at the moment. The thought of leaving the house with the hangover she had sent shivers up her spine, all she wanted was a blanket, some popcorn and the Die Hard trilogy.

"Yeah sure, mom. What do you need me to do?" Elena asked, reluctantly. She knew she was going to regret this one way or another.

"I need you to go to Sofia's house and give these to them," her mother replied while handing her two envelops. "they're Damon's welcome back cards. He came back yesterday!" Oh, Elena knew all too well that Damon came back yesterday and she definitely didn't need to be reminded of him.

"Can't it wait a day or two, mom?" Elena pleaded, the one thing she didn't want today was another run in the the raven haired man who took up most of her thoughts last night and this morning. Especially in the hungover state she was in.

"I'm sorry, sweetie but I really need you to do this for me. You need to give them the cards and invite them to dinner, tonight. It's at seven."

"Wait, what dinner mom?" Elena had no idea about this so called dinner that her mother was on about.

"I'm sure I told you yesterday? I offered to host a small dinner party tonight to welcome Damon back. It's nothing massive, just us, Jenna, Ric and the Salvatores." Just when Elena thought she was going to have some time to process all things Damon, he's thrown straight back into her face.

"Oh yeah, must of slipped my mind. I'll go over later." Elena replied, smiling at her mother. She was just going to have to bite the bullet and face him again.

_'He might not even be there, he's probably over some girl's house that he met last night or something.'_ she reasoned in her head.

"Okay, thank you hunny!" her mom replied, looking at her watch. "I need to get to the hospital like now, i'm running late again!"

Elena's mother was a doctor at Mystic Falls Hospital. The hours were irregular and there were days that she never saw her mom because she was working, but she was saving lives and making a difference and Elena couldn't be any prouder. Her mother also said that the money was good and was more than enough for her and Elena to live off.

"Okay. I should be back at five so when you go out, remember to lock the house. I love you!" she called as she shut the door. Elena looked down to the cards on the edge of her bed,the beautiful handwriting on the envelope which read 'Damon' made her inwardly groan.

_'God, I need to stop thinking about him.'_

Once Elena finished her breakfast, she found herself upstairs trying to decide what to wear. She had no idea why she was suddenly so interested in making sure she looked good, only when she was going over to the Salvatore Boarding House. She hadn't even really expressed interest in making an effort to look amazing for Tyler let alone for Sofia and possibly, _Damon_.

After another ten minutes of deciding what to wear, Elena finally opted for a white camisole top and a pair of denim shorts. After all, it was boiling outside and she wanted to show her long legs a little. She put a pair of sunglasses on her head and the cards into her handbag before slinging it up onto her shoulder and grabbing her car keys.

The drive to the Boarding House was short and sweet, with it being only a twenty minute walk from her house, she was there in about five minutes. Elena gasped as she turned into the drive, the old building in front of her was beautiful. She had always envied the Salvatores for the house they lived in. According to Sofia, the Boarding House was built in the 1900's to accommodate all the slaves. Sofia's great grandfather had then renovated the house and moved in when the Salvatore Mansion was knocked down to provide more houses for Mystic Falls.

She stepped out of the car and took in the surroundings. She hadn't been here in years and the exterior hadn't changed a bit, the flowers were still gorgeous and the blades of grass in the front garden was still cut to perfection. She approached the large door and knocked on it twice, hoping that the elder Salvatore brother wasn't going to be the person to answer.

After what seemed like ten minutes of waiting and just when Elena was about to turn around and go home, the door flung open, revealing Damon Salvatore in all his _naked_ glory.

Elena's eyes almost bugged out of her head when she saw him open the door, shirtless. Just when she thought he couldn't look any better he came to the door like _this. _He looked as though he'd just gotten out of bed but he still looked like he was about to step into a photo-shoot. It should be a crime to wake up in the morning, looking the way he did.

His jet black hair that was styled over his forehead last night was now dishevelled, bits of hair sticking out in different directions and she had to admit that it looked incredibly sexy. She let out a small gasp as her eyes lowered to his shirtless chest. His muscles were on full display for her and in that moment she couldn't help but admire them. Her eyes trailed down to his six pack and she found herself comparing them to Tyler's.

She had seen Tyler without a shirt on a few times but he definitely didn't look as good as this. While Tyler's muscles were big, they weren't toned and it made her realise that Tyler just wanted to look big rather than to define his muscles. Whereas Damon's muscles weren't too big, they were toned and defined. They were defined to the point that you could see every muscle on his upper body and the sight had her mouth-watering, unintentionally of course.

Her eyes trailed lower and she saw that his jeans were dangerously low on his hip. Her eyes dipped down past his 'v-line' and it looked as though if his jeans were any lower then she would have a full view of his manhood. She found herself staring at him and she could feel a sudden ache in between her legs. She was losing herself in the sight of him and she felt like she was about to faint when she heard his velvet voice knock her out of her trance.

"See something you like?" he asked smugly as he lent against the doorway and then did that thing with his eyes that drove her and probably women all around crazy.

"W-what, no!" Elena stuttered. She was still trying to recover from the sight of him. He was looking at her with that loop-sided grin that made her want to punch him in the face. He was so cocky and full of himself, although he did have a good reason to be when you could easily compare him to a Greek god.

After what seemed like minutes of her just staring at him, he finally moved out of the doorway and opened the door wider for her gesturing for her to come inside.

"Would you like to come in, Elena?" she hated the way that he dragged out every syllable in her name, his voice dripping with sex.

Elena walked inside into the large house, although she had probably been inside the house at least a hundred times throughout her childhood, the place was still breathtaking. The large interior of the building was warm and she always felt comfortable and at ease whenever she stepped inside. She turned around and she could of swore that for a moment she saw Damon staring at her but he quickly snapped his head up to meet her eyes. The room suddenly becoming tense, she found herself quickly avoiding eye contact with him, avoiding his intense gaze.

"So Elena, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this morning?" he asked, cocking his head to the side like a predator studying its prey. She certainly felt like his prey.

"Oh right, here's your welcome back cards." she replied, handing him the cards with a smile on her face and ignoring the sarcasm that traced his voice.

When he took the cards, his fingers brushed lightly over hers and she felt something that could only be described as a small surge of electric shoot through her body, making the hairs on her arms stand up. She quickly retracted her arm back as if it had been burned and looked up to meet Damon's scorching blue eyes.

"Well thank you, but i'm sure that's not all you came for, right?" he asked and Elena found herself staring at his godlike body again. It was starting to become very difficult for her to focus her attention on anything else while he was standing there without a shirt on.

"O-oh yeah, I almost forgot. My mom wanted me to tell Sofia that you're all invited to dinner tonight, at seven." Damn she stuttered again! Why couldn't she get a single sentence out without falling over her words when she was around him?

"Dinner?" he asked, looking confused.

"Oh yeah, I had no clue about it until today. It's just a small 'gathering' as my mom calls them." she replied, sheepishly. She had no idea why she was so nervous.

"Just us and you?" he looked even more confused and skeptical about tonight than he did a minute ago!

"No, Jenna and Ric are coming as well." She stated quickly, hoping he wouldn't get the wrong idea that it was only them.

_'He probably won't come anyway. I bet he'd rather chew glass than spend the night with the girl who used to pester him all the time when she was fourteen.'_

If Elena was being honest, she just wanted to finish this conversation as soon as possible and leave. She thought her knees were about to give out beneath her with those blue eyes staring into her soul. Them along with his perfectly sculptured chest were definitely making it hard for her plan to keep Damon out of her head stay intact.

"Okay, sure. Although I have no idea where my mother is so i'll just give her the message when she gets back." he said and shot her another one of his signature smirks.

"Good. Well I need to get back to the house, no doubt my mom's going to want me to help out with stuff when she gets back from work. So i'll see you tonight?" she asked as she was heading out the door.

"Oh most definitely, as long as your there." He did that thing with his eyes again which made her involuntary blush, she quickly muttered a quick good-bye before rushing off in the opposite direction of the house.

She quickly climbed into her car and rested her head on the steering wheel. The temptation to bash her own head of the steering wheel came to mind as she thought back to the way she acted with Damon minutes before. She acted like such a schoolgirl around him, she was embarrassed. Whenever she was around him, her inner fourteen year old made itself known with her stuttering over her words and shamelessly checking him out when he could clearly see her doing it.

Then when they did manage to have a civil conversation, he complimented her and did that thing with his eyes that made her blush and have butterflies having the time of their lives in her stomach!

She needed to stop this. Whatever attraction she still had for Damon made it hard for her to think straight around him. Why couldn't he just kick a puppy or something to make her hate him? She didn't trust herself around him and for good reason, he was too charming for his own good! No matter what she felt though, she wasn't going to act on it. Her attraction for Damon would die soon, its only because he's back in town that she's even feeling this way.

Whatever dormant feelings she still had for him would be ignored. Elena hadlearnt her lesson the last time she let Damon Salvatore consume her. She had been scolded by him once before already and she definitely wasn't going to give him the opportunity to do it again.

If those feelings did come back, she was sure she would be able to block them out until she forgot about them like she had last time, she didn't need Damon anymore, she had Tyler now and the first step in ridding herself of Damon was tonight. If she could last a whole night in Damon's presence and ignore her feelings for him, she would be able to do it again and again.

Tonight was the first step to finally getting rid of her attraction to Damon Salvatore for good!

* * *

AN: So this is a little bit shorter than the other chapters but that's because this is basically a filler chapter. I hope that there was enough D/E in there to not bore you all though, the good stuff will be in the next few chapters!


	5. Chapter 4

AN: Wow guys, this story has over 100 followers somehow. That's awesome, I never imagined that I'd have so many people following and reading this story so thank you all so much! I'm sorry if I haven't replied to some of your reviews but i'm getting there. Anyway i'm keeping this one short so here's the new chapter and I hope you enjoy!

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 4

* * *

Damon smiled as he watched Elena walk back to her car, her showing up this morning had made his day and he couldn't wait until dinner later this evening. He didn't quite understand why, but he wanted to know more about her. He wanted to know how much she'd changed in the last couple of years, what her interests were, what she planned on doing after school, he just wanted to_ know_ her.

He didn't exactly know why he was so interested in Elena. Four years ago she was nothing but Jeremy's sister but now, she was a woman. A gorgeous one as well. Damon knew that it was wrong of him to spend so much time thinking about Elena, if Jeremy was alive and knew what he was thinking, he was pretty sure that he'd already have a broken jaw by now. It wasn't as though he was looking to pursue a relationship with her, he knew she had a boyfriend and why shouldn't she? She was clearly beautiful and every boy in her school probably wanted to be with her.

Not to mention that she was _alot_ younger than him.

It didn't matter what he thought about the situation though. Jeremy wasn't here anymore, but he was still going to abide by his friendship. He wasn't going to pursue anything but an understanding with the girl. An understanding in which she could come to him if she ever needed to talk about Jeremy or anything else.

He closed the door shut and made his way into the kitchen, he really needed a cup of coffee to wake him up. While being woken up so early in the morning wasn't the most ideal start the day, it was definitely worth it to see Elena. In fact, he couldn't really think of a better way to start his day. He moved to the counter, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and started making a new pot of coffee. One thing he definitely didn't miss while he was overseas was hangovers. They were still a pain in the ass and the throbbing in his head was a small reminder of why he didn't like to get too drunk anymore.

While he was pouring himself a cup of coffee, Stefan bounded into the kitchen wearing the same grey hoodie he was when he came in last night. Since he'd returned home, his brother had barely said a couple of sentences to him. If Damon was being honest with himself, he was expecting a hero's welcome back from his brother. They used to be really close before he joined the Marines, they used to be a team and he had no idea why his brother was giving him the cold shoulder now.

"Hey Stef, want a cup of coffee? Just made a fresh pot." Damon asked, trying to strike up a conversation with his brother.

"I'm fine, Damon." he replied, moving towards the cupboard and taking out a bowl.

"Look Stefan, have I done something wrong?" Damon asked, placing his mug on the counter beside him.

"No, why'd you ask?" Stefan asked, pouring cereal into his bowl.

"Because you've barely said two words to me since I've been back!" Damon replied, frustrated.

"Well sorry that I've not had time to welcome back the hometown hero." his brother said and Damon couldn't miss the sarcasm in his voice.

Damon had no idea why his brother was acting the way he was. Stefan had changed so much in the four years that he'd been away, he wasn't the shy and polite fourteen year old boy anymore that he used to teach guitar to after school. No, now he was a lot more grown up and apparently didn't have the time of day anymore for his older brother.

"Stefan, I don't know how to fix this if you don't tell me what's wrong." Damon pointed out as he gripped his brother's arm, stopping him from bolting out before he got to the bottom of whatever this was.

"I really need to go." Stefan declared before shrugging his arm out of his grip.

Damon watched as his brother walked away, not saying another word. Surely his brother wasn't mad at him? The last time they spoke to each other over the phone a year or two ago they was completely fine with each other. He wondered what had happened to make his brother act the way he was. He was going to have to ask his mother later on, which also reminded him about Elena's dinner. Well it wasn't necessarily Elena's dinner, but he only wanted to go so that he could see her, as selfish as that sounded.

Damon walked out of his en-suite bathroom and looked at the clothes he'd laid out for tonight. For the first time since dating Katherine he was worried about what to wear. He didn't want to wear something too casual just in case everyone was dressing up and he didn't want to dress too formal because well all his formal clothes were... _too_ formal. His formal clothes were suits and dress shirts that he'd used for the Founders events that come around every year and something told him that they'd be a little unnecessary for tonight.

Realization struck him like lightning. He was _nervous_. Oh god, he hated being nervous.

He decided on a black, John Varvatos jumper that he'd gotten as a welcome home present from his mother yesterday. He was sure that his mother would be delighted to see him wearing it and it was the perfect balance between casual and formal that he needed to survive the night at the Gilbert household. Maybe Elena would even appreciate his choice of clothing.

After checking himself over quickly in the mirror to make sure that he looked presentable, he quickly bounded downstairs to see if his mother was ready. If there was one thing anyone knew about his mother, it was that she took pride in everything she did, including her appearance and would spend hours if she had too, making sure that she looked perfect. It was one of the many things that the people of Mystic Falls admired about her.

"Ma, you ready yet? Were going to be late." Damon called out, while walking over to the liquor cabinet in the parlor.

"Two seconds, Damon." She replied from somewhere in the house.

His thoughts quickly drifted to his brother. His mother had told him that he'd been acting strangely for the past couple of months, before he came home. Damon didn't know whether to feel relieved that it wasn't his fault or to feel concerned as to why his brother was acting this way. He couldn't just approach his brother and ask him what was wrong, that plan was shot down this morning. Stefan wasn't going to just tell him what was wrong, he had to find out himself.

"Damon are you even listening to me?" his mother interrupted him.

"W-what yeah, of course." she rolled her eyes at him before smiling.

"I said you look dashing."

"Thanks Ma, you're looking as beautiful as always." Damon smiled at his mother, she truly was beautiful.

The walk to the Gilbert household was a lengthy one, with the Boarding House being on the other side of town it took a good fifteen minutes for them to walk across town. He wasn't sure just how much Mystic Falls had changed in the past years but he definitely wasn't comfortable with the idea that his mother would walk to Elena's house at night alone. He knew the town had a good reputation for being friendly and call him paranoid or something but he knew there were some jackasses in this town and he didn't even want to think about what he would do if he found out one day that his mother had been mugged on the way home.

"Do you walk to Miranda's all the time?" Damon asked as they continued walking, his mothers arm looped through his own.

"Most of the time. I usually catch a cab home."

"Usually?"

"Oh stop your worrying, Damon. Nothing bad ever happens in Mystic Falls."

Damon rolled his eyes. _Sure_ nothing bad ever happened in Mystic Falls, his mother could be so naive at times. Unlike her, he'd actually been out in the streets in the early hours of the morning and it definitely wasn't the innocent place that his mother was defending. He knew that he was being a little over-dramatic but ever since returning home and reconnecting with his old life, he finally felt as though he could build a life here with people that he cared for and he'd be damned if he let anyone he cared about slip away from him again. He'd already lost one too many...

"Oh yeah, of course nothing bad ever happens, it is Mystic Falls after all." Damon drawled out sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, Damon."

"Yeah, well I wonder who I get that from..."

* * *

Elena smoothed down her shirt while looking in the mirror. She was wearing a sapphire Phillip Lim top that her mother had bought her a few weeks back and a pair of blue denim, skinny jeans. Tonight was the first time she had the chance to wear the top that her mother bought, she hadn't dressed up for anything in what felt like forever and she was actually enjoying having to put the effort in to make sure that she looked good. Although she didn't really understand why she was putting so much effort into her outfit... okay tell a lie, she knew exactly why she was making such an effort. Damon Salvatore.

So much for her mission to forget him, ever since their encounter this morning all she's done is _think_ about him. She wasn't going to give up so easily though, she remembered feeling the same way when she was fourteen, all she needed was time and this stupid attraction she had for him would disappear, along with the guilt she felt for betraying Tyler.

Smoothing down her short again just to make sure there were no creases, she quickly checked her hair in the mirror. She'd spent the last half hour straightening her hair, something that she hadn't done in a while either. Since Jeremy died, she didn't really care for whether she dressed up or not when she went out with her friends, it just didn't seem relevant when her whole life was crumbling around her. But for the first time in a long time, she wanted to put the effort in.

Elena heard the bell ring from downstairs and she could practically feel her heart beating into overdrive. There was a 50/50 chance that Damon was on the other side of that door and all the confidence she was feeling earlier today was quickly evaporating.

After hearing her mother call her to come down, she gracefully made her way down the stairs to open the door. The butterflies in her stomach were making her uneasy and she prayed to god that she wouldn't stutter again like she had this morning, she didn't want to embarrass herself anymore in front of him. Taking a deep breath and opening the door, she didn't know whether to feel relieved or disappointed that her aunt Jenna and her boyfriend Alaric were at the door instead of the Damon.

"Hey guys, oh Elena you look gorgeous honey!" Jenna exclaimed as she walked into the house, discarding her jacket on the couch and making herself at home.

Jenna was like the older sister that Elena never had. She was only about five or six years older than her and much to Elena's joy, she still sometimes acted like a teenager. Jenna had moved back to Mystic Falls about a year ago after transferring over to Mystic Falls University from Florida State University, apparently she didn't like all the sun and the beaches were overrated. It wasn't long after that she met Alaric, one of Jeremy's old friends and a romance blossomed between them. Before they knew it, they had become a small family unit and once Jeremy died, Jenna and Ric helped Elena and her mother in any way that they could.

"Hey 'Lena." Came Ric's greeting as he shrugged off his jacket and presented her with bottle of wine.

"Hi guys!" Elena replied, smiling. It felt good to be surrounded by family, and knowing that the Salvatores were coming felt like old times.

"So where's this Damon guy, I've heard so much about?" Jenna asked excitedly, a little too excitedly and Elena had to suppress some giggles as she saw Ric playfully roll his eyes.

Of course it didn't surprise her that Jenna was so excited to see Damon. With her mother no doubt singing praises of him like a second son along with Ric being his best friend, of course Jenna had the idea that the guy was some sort of angel. Elena couldn't wait to see her aunt's face when she actually got a look at him...

"He's not here yet..." her mother's voice echoed through the kitchen and into the living room.

Elena watched as her aunt excited skipped into the kitchen with her mother, no doubt to talk more about a certain raven haired male. Elena had the biggest urge to roll her eyes; even her mom was smitten with Damon Salvatore!

"So Elena, what's it like being back in school?" Ric asked as she finally noticed that it was just them two in the living room.

"Same old, just easing back into it." She replied with a bright smile.

Elena couldn't have picked a better man for her aunt to date. Due to his friendship with her brother she had known him for years and he was probably one of the sweetest guys she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was also intelligent and gave her aunt a run for her money as he was currently studying to become a history teacher at Mystic Falls University. It was also a bonus that he was handsome and all those traits combined together made Ric the perfect man for Jenna.

Just as Ric was about to say something, the doorbell rung again and Elena felt her heart jump in her throat. There was no maybe, Damon was definitely on the other side of the door. Suddenly, she didn't know what to do with herself. She felt as though she was going on a first date, which was ridiculous considering she had a boyfriend!

Ric opened the door and when she heard Damon's voice, her stomach was in knots. His velvety, smooth voice vibrated around the room and infiltrated her heart. She felt the hairs stand up on her arms and a small shiver tingle down her spine; that was the effect that Damon Salvatore had on her. He walked into the room with a small smirk on his face and Elena wondered for a second if he knew the type of effect he had on people, on her.

Elena quickly used the time he spent greeting Alaric to check over his appearance. As usual, he looked drool-worthy in his black leather jacket and dark jeans. He was wearing a black jumper and she was pretty sure that his wardrobe only consisted of black or grey clothes. Since he'd been home she'd only ever seen him in black and grey and come to think of it, she never really saw him in any other colored clothes when he was eighteen either.

"Damon." She smiled as he walked up to her. _Please don't stutter, please don't stutter..._

"Hey 'Lena." he replied smoothly and she felt her heart flutter at the use of her nickname. Hearing _him_ say it in that smooth voice of his made her want to grin like an idiot for the rest of the night.

Before she had the chance to reply, her mother came bursting through into the living room with unshed tears in her eyes. She bounded over to Damon and pulled him into a massive bear hug, possibly cracking a rib or two of his. Elena didn't know whether it was a blessing that or her mother came in or a curse, she still wasn't sure if she even wanted to have a conversation with Damon given the circumstances.

"Oh Damon. You've grown into such a man!" her mother praised and Elena had to agree. He was definitely more... manly now with his chiseled features and defined body.

Her mind flashed to earlier this morning and Damon's body... his hard, defined muscles that made her thighs clench together, involuntarily of course. She'd never seen a body like his before and when she saw the small trail of black hair from his belly-button lead down past his trousers into unknown territory, she couldn't stop all of the naughty thoughts that were invading her head.

"Elena, honey. Are you drooling?" her mother asked, bringing her back to reality.

"W-what no!" Elena quickly replied, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she knew that she was probably blushing. She quickly mumbled something about going toilet and rushed upstairs to save herself any more embarrassment. She needed to check herself in the mirror now!

While she was checking her make-up and making sure that there wasn't anymore drool hanging from her mouth, her phone buzzed once and when she looked at who'd sent her a text message, she was hesitant as to if she even wanted to answer him back. She quickly unlocked her phone and read the highly predictable and rehearsed text message that Tyler had sent her.

_Tyler: Sorry for bailing on you yesterday babe. I'll make it up to you at the bonfire, I promise xxx_

Shaking her head and sliding the phone back into her pocket, she made another quick adjustment to her makeup in the bathroom and decided it was time to face the wolves; well by wolves she meant her family and Damon Salvatore. She didn't want to deal with all the crap Tyler was throwing her way tonight, if she had a dollar for every text that said 'sorry babe' she'd probably be a millionaire... no a billionaire. She stopped having any expectations in Tyler a long time ago, he wasn't reliable and if she was being honest with herself, she didn't fully trust him with her heart.

Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she could hear laughter coming from the kitchen. Following the giggles coming from her mother and aunt, she walked into the kitchen to see Damon sweet talking them, turning the Salvatore charm right up for his benefit. And judging from the bright smiles on their faces and how their cheeks were tinted red from blushing too much, it was working.

"Alright then ladies, I best get this to Ric before he gets angsty." Damon said charmingly, referring to the glass of whiskey in his hand just as Elena walked into the kitchen.

Elena watched on as he gave her a toothy grin as he passed her and walked into the dining room. Trying to ignore the way his smile made her heart accelerate more than it should, she turned to her aunt who's mouth was hanging open. Yup... just like Elena had pictured her aunt's face when she saw Damon for the first time.

"Oh my god. You didn't tell me he was so hot, Mir!" Jenna exclaimed, a little _too_ loudly and Elena rolled her eyes as she imagined Damon hearing every word her aunt was saying. A boost to his ego was the last thing he needed...

"He's also younger than you, Jenna..." Miranda chided and Elena had to suppress giggles of her own as she looked at the disappointed face of her aunt.

"And he's an ass." Ric chirped in as he bounced into the kitchen.

"Oh I love a bad boy..." Jenna smirked as Ric's face dropped. Elena couldn't keep it in anymore and burst out laughing, the look on Ric's face too amusing.

The dinner went by smoothly, with both Miranda and Sofia cooking, the food was delicious to say the least. Although, it was a well known fact that the Salvatore's knew how to cook. Unfortunately for Elena though, she was seated opposite the man she was trying her hardest not to make eye contact with. As inviting as his oceanic orbs were, she didn't think she could handle the intensity of them. She'd felt his eyes burning into her as she tried to look everywhere else except from at _him_.

Conversation changed as everyone cycled through different topics. While eating the exquisite pasta and sauce that Sofia had spent the last half hour cooking in the kitchen, they'd spoken about how Elena was doing in school, her mother's job at the hospital, even stretching the conversation towards the new job that Jenna had an interview for. Halfway through talking about Alaric's progress with his teaching degree, Elena's eyes involuntarily locked with Damon's and she felt as though someone had poured a bucket of freezing, cold water over her. It took her breath away.

It felt as though hours had passed by as she stared straight into the eyes of the raven haired angel in front of her. Something was compelling her not to break eye contact and as she got lost in his beautiful eyes, she noticed something that she'd never seen before in his eyes; desire.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as Elena contemplated the idea that he... Damon Salvatore, definition of a sex god personified, _wanted_ her.

Unable to handle the intensity of the small moment they were sharing, she quickly drew her eyes away from his and focused on something a lot less distracting than the man across the table from her. Her eyes focused on the clock above the mantelpiece and she focused on one of the clock's arms ticking around as each second passed. After quickly glancing back at him to see if he was still staring at her like she was the only woman on earth, she quickly decided that she needed some personal space, because that moment she just shared with him felt suffocating, consuming.

"Here, let me do the dishes." Elena said, jumping at the chance to get some free time as she noticed everyone's plates were empty.

Before anyone could protest, Elena already had everyone's plates and was heading towards the kitchen, hoping that nobody would follow her. She needed a minute or two to collect her thoughts, alone. She didn't know how long she was scrubbing the dishes when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket again. Putting the place down on the side, she pulled her phone out to see another text from Tyler.

_Tyler: Why aren't you answering my texts? I know your mad at me but you really need to get over it, you're not five years old anymore, El._

Just who the hell did Tyler think he was? Elena had every right to be mad at him for as long as she wanted given the reasons why. Besides the constant put-downs and snide remarks, he'd been recently trying to pressure her into finally having sex with him. Even with everything going on with Jeremy he still tried pushing her to go all the way. She hadn't told anyone about the latter though, especially not Caroline. She'd be over to his house in a flash and Elena didn't put it past Caroline to knock his teeth out, it was the type of friend she was.

Against her own morality, for the first time ever she was beginning to have doubts in her relationship with Tyler. Thinking back on the way he was with her, she knew that was no way to treat your girlfriend. Her aunt Jenna and Ric were prime examples of that; they adored each other, loved each other. And yet, when she looked at Tyler, all she really felt was obligation. She felt a sense of purpose to help him, to prove the rumors about him wrong. She wanted him to be the better man. But she knew that no real man would pressurize a woman into having sex with them, although he hadn't physically tried to make her do anything, his constant prodding and suggestions were beginning to take their toll on her. She didn't want to have these doubts about him, but with the way he was acting she didn't know how to handle her relationship.

She knew that she wasn't ready to be that intimate with Tyler yet, but was she being a bad girlfriend by denying him what was expected of her? Couples were meant to have sex and as far as he was concerned, she wasn't holding up her end of the deal.

Which brought her to her last problem, Damon. He'd only been back in town for two days and already she could feel her self control slipping around him. His magnetic pull was too much for her and she was afraid that soon, she might not be able to resist him in all of his bad boy glory. Her plan to forget him was failing miserably and against her better judgment, she wasn't sure if she cared...

"Elena?" A foreign voice startled her, causing her to take a small gasp and clutch her heart, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"Jesus, Damon. Don't do that." Elena breathed out, catching her breath. _Talk of the devil..._

"Sorry, I just came to see if you needed any help with the dishes, your taking kinda long." He retorted, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Yeah... I just needed some time to myself." she concluded.

"Why? If I may ask." he asked and Elena noticed that he seemed genuinely interested. _Because of everything... Jeremy, school, Tyler, _you_..._

"Just my boyfriend... I don't know what I want anymore." she replied and surprisingly, it wasn't awkward mentioning your boyfriend problems to the guy you inevitably have a crush on. She guessed it had something to do with the way she felt like she could relax around him when they were by themselves, _full clothed_.

"Sure you do, you want what everyone wants, 'Lena." he responded, passionately and Elena noticed that his eyes were sparkling.

"And what's that?" she replied, curious.

"You want a love that consumes you. I think you want passion, adventure and maybe, just maybe, you want a little danger as well." he said determined and Elena had never seen Damon look so serious, she watched him for a second and he looked as though he was somewhere else, probably thinking about a girl he felt the same about and for some reason, that rubbed her the wrong way.

"Oh yeah? And who'd you get that from, cupid?" Elena replied skeptically, trying to force images of Damon with another girl out of her head. The truth was she did _want_ those things, but it just seemed too good to be true, especially given her history with boys.

"Your brother." he shrugged, nonchalantly.

Elena's mouth hung open as she digested the words she just heard come out of Damon's mouth. No, that can't be. Elena had never heard Jeremy speak as passionately as that unless it was about football or cars, she didn't honestly believe that her brother came up with the quote that described everything she wanted in a relationship with _anyone_.

Just as she was about to say something, she heard Sofia's voice drift into the kitchen.

"Damon, hunny. The cab's here, although I don't know why we can't just walk..."

"I need to go. I'll see you around, 'Lena." he said in a low voice, only audible to them.

Then he did something that she never expected him to do in a million years! He slowly leaned in, freezing her to the spot. He leaned in close to her face and she could feel his warm breath penetrate her skin and just when she thought he was going to kiss her on the lips, he angled his head to the right and pressed his lips to her cheek, softly. His lips lingered on her skin for a few seconds and she felt the same electrical sensation she felt last night at the bar when their fingers brushed together. She was still frozen to the spot, her arms hanging loosely at her sides when he finally pulled back, his eyes slightly cloudy.

"Goodnight, Elena." He breathed into her ear and she felt goosebumps erupt all over. This was definitely not meant to happen! He wasn't meant to make her feel more alive in those short seconds than Tyler had their whole relationship.

After a few short moments and Elena felt as though she could actually move again, she noticed that Damon and Sofia had already left. She had so many questions for both herself and Damon. She wanted to know more about what Jeremy said to Damon and she wanted to know why she felt such a connection with him.

Elena quickly mumbled a goodnight to her mother, aunt and Ric. She quickly ascended the stairs and into the safe haven known as her bedroom. With everything that was happening, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to do with Tyler or how to handle her pull towards Damon. All she knew was that she couldn't keep it all bottled inside and she needed to release everything that was weighing down on her, so she did the thing she hadn't done since Jeremy died; she opened her diary and turned to a blank page.

And while she was writing her private thoughts down onto paper, she realized something. When Damon was describing what she wanted in a relationship, she was picturing him with every single word.

* * *

AN: I'm so glad I got this out for you all! I'm a little bit nervous for this chapter as you all expected a lot from the dinner so I hope I exceeded your expectations. I also put in one of my favorite DE scenes, although I didn't rip it off _completely._ Anyway, I hope you had a good weekend and let me know if you liked the chapter. Also, if you point out any mistakes, don't be afraid to let me know :)


	6. Chapter 5

AN: Sorry that this one's later than usual but life has really caught up to me these last two weeks with college and work that I haven't had as much time to write as I would have liked to. I hope you can forgive me though because I come bearing a gift of a new chapter! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I really am sorry for the delay but it can't be helped when it comes to real life commitments.

Also for anyone interested, I'm currently looking for a beta to help me out with this story - someone to help me with editing and to contribute some ideas and feedback for my writing. So if you know anyone or you're interested yourself, drop me a PM and let me know :).

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 5

* * *

Elena had never felt more conflicted in her entire life. On one hand she had her boyfriend, Tyler. He'd been with her through thick and thin, had comforted her when Jeremy died and when they first got together he had treated her like a princess. Only now, somewhere during their relationship, he'd changed. He became a lot more controlling, telling her she couldn't go places with her friends, he belittled her appearance and even basically admitted once or twice while fighting that he thought she was undesirable; that he put up with her because nobody else would.

She hadn't realized it before but she'd let him get away with things like that for far too long. She let him walk all over her and she didn't know whether to fight for their relationship or to cut all ties with him. She knew deep down that she cared for Tyler, she didn't love him but she definitely cared about him. She didn't want to hurt him but she had to think about herself for _once_ as well. And the truth was she just didn't know whether she wanted to be with him anymore.

Which then brought her to her next problem, Damon Salvatore.

Ever since their moment in the kitchen two nights ago, she'd found it almost impossible to sleep. She didn't know whether it was the small kiss he left on the side of her cheek that she could still feel burned into her skin, or if it was her brother's advice about love that Damon had graced her with. Maybe that was why she was suddenly questioning her whole relationship with Tyler. Apparently, her brother knew exactly what she wanted from a relationship better than she ever did and now, she wasn't sure if Tyler made her feel the way she wanted to feel anymore.

There were no giddy feelings anymore when she was next to him, no butterflies or sparks. There had been a time at the start of their relationship that Elena had felt all of those emotions at once, he excited her and she was so attracted to him that at the time she didn't imagine herself with anyone else, but somewhere along the way, Tyler had stopped making her feel that way and to make matters worse. It seemed those feelings were now reserved for Damon instead, and that... petrified her.

Damon Salvatore had managed to once again squeeze his way into her head, whether it was for the right or wrong reasons. She should have foreseen these lingering feelings that were threatening to return once she knew he was coming home but she thought that as the years went on, she'd gotten over him. Her body and heart had other ideas though, unfortunately for her. All it took was a few charming smiles, a flash of those baby blues and a small kiss on her cheek and suddenly she was like putty in his hands.

That's why for the past two days she'd been avoiding all things to do with the elder Salvatore brother.

Elena walked up the steps at the entrance of Mystic Falls High School, ready for another lack-luster day. As she walked through the double doors into the hallway she caught a glimpse of Tyler in his letterman jacket, surrounded by the rest of the football team. She quickly made a left turn down towards the English classes, hoping to avoid him.

Yes, Tyler was another person she'd been avoiding for the past few days.

Ever since Saturday, she had been ignoring her boyfriend. They hadn't spoken since then and when she forgot to text him on Sunday, he got moody with her and started ignoring her himself. When he failed to pick her up on Monday morning, she took the opportunity to put some space between them. If she was being honest with herself she was feeling guilty for what happened Sunday with Damon. It might have only been a small kiss on the cheek but she felt like she'd cheated on her boyfriend and she didn't think she could stomach being with Tyler while replaying that dinner with Damon over and over in her head.

As she rounded the corner she barely had time to stop herself as she almost collided with someone's chest. After being startled, she quickly looked up to find the only guy in the school who she was trying to avoid; Tyler. She bit the inside of her lip, trying to quickly think up an excuse for ignoring him all weekend but found herself surprised when he spoke in a soft, caring tone.

"Hey beautiful, I was beginning to think you left town or something."

"I'm sorry?" Were the words that quickly slipped out of her mouth as she looked at the man in front of her, who the hell was this guy and what had he done with Tyler Lockwood?

"I haven't seen you since Saturday and you already left for school this morning when I came to pick you up..." he stated.

"Well you didn't come yesterday so I-"

"Yeah I forgot to tell you that my car was in the shop. I would have told you yesterday but I didn't see you all day." he sounded almost... sincere.

"Oh..." she replied, confused. She had no idea what his angle was but he was _never_ this nice to her. Usually he was blunt and demanding but today he was the complete opposite and she didn't know whether it was a facade or not. She liked to think that she knew more about him than she let on, but she wasn't sure whether he was being completely genuine with her. Regardless of whether Tyler was actually acting like a decent guy for once, she _did_ know that when he couldn't get what he wanted, he changed tactics and this change in attitude only made her suspicious that he wanted something from her, the only question was what?

"So babe, are you free tonight? I thought that maybe we could spend the night with takeout and a movie?" He asked as his lips formed into a small, deceiving smile.

"Actually, I'm having just a girls night with my mom and Jenna." she replied and she hated herself for lying to him but she didn't think she could be around him for the whole night, knowing that every time he flashed her a smile or gave her a kiss, she'd be thinking back to Sunday night in her kitchen with a certain blue eyed man.

"Okay hun, you are going to the bonfire Friday though, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"U-uh yeah of course," she replied as the school bell rung out and everyone filtered into the classrooms, leaving them alone in the hallway. "I better get to class, you know what Mr Johnson's like when you're late to his class." she offered with a small smile.

"Yeah sure babe, I'll text you later." he replied before giving her a brief kiss on the cheek.

Her lips tilted upwards into a forced smile before mumbling a small goodbye. The only thing she could think about on her way to math class was the difference in kisses between Tyler and Damon. She knew she shouldn't have been comparing the two, and she felt a little silly for doing it but she couldn't help it. Tyler's kiss was short and held no warmth, his lips were cold and she didn't feel the short buzz she used to whenever he touched her. However, Damon's kiss had lingered and his lips had engraved themselves in her skin, making those butterflies flutter around in her stomach.

She shook the feeling off as she entered her maths class, seeing her empty seat in between Caroline and Bonnie. She rushed over to her seat, thankful that she'd managed to get into class before Mr Johnson. She wasn't kidding about him; he really did blow a fuse when someone turned up his lessons late.

Elena didn't know whether or not to tell Caroline and Bonnie that she was considering breaking up with Tyler. She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Bonnie because it would no doubt lead to a conversation about Damon in which her best friend would probably interrogate her on why she was suddenly questioning her relationship with Tyler as soon as he blew back into town. And Caroline was a different kettle of fish. While her best friend would no doubt respect any decision she made, something told Elena that she'd be slightly a little _too_ harsh on Tyler. Not to mention the fact that she'd want all the details on everything from her decision to break up with Tyler to Sunday's dinner with a man who Caroline described as 'too gorgeous for his own good'.

Deciding that they were her best friends and if the situations were reversed, they'd never fail to let her in on everything, she decided to have a girl's night over her house and tell them everything. Well... maybe not everything, she'd leave out the Damon details but she'd tell them her secret suspicions of Tyler and how rather quickly, her feelings were changing.

Damon's speech to her about love had convinced her that she _wasn't_ in love with Tyler but that certainly didn't mean that Damon was the reason she was going to end things with her boyfriend, right?

Elena took out her phone and quickly typed out a text message to both Caroline and Bonnie explaining to be over her house by seven with ice cream and DVD's. The only thing that Elena needed right now was the advice of her two best friends and Ryan Gosling.

* * *

"So what's the reason for the impromptu slumber party?" Caroline asked as she bounced into the kitchen, carrying a bag full of DVD's ranging from 'The Notebook' to 'Friends with Benefits' - basically every romantic film known to man.

"Yeah 'Lena, we haven't had one of these in ages." Bonnie added.

"Well I wasn't going to tell you until later but... I think I might end things with Tyler." Elena replied, hesitantly.

Judging from the very _different_ reactions that came from the both of them, they had different opinions on the matter. Caroline's jaw was on the floor and Bonnie was giving her a pointed look. It was a look that was more of a statement, one that said 'This is because of Damon'. Elena just wished that Bonnie wouldn't bring him up now, that would be opening a can of worms in front of Caroline that Elena definitely didn't want to deal with tonight.

Elena faltered under Bonnie's judgmental stare and diverted her eyes to her other best friend, who'd finally seemed to have digested the information and was now smiling broadly at her.

"That's great news, 'Len! What brought on this little epiphany?"

"Yeah, this seems really sudden, Elena." Bonnie chirped in, causing Elena to bring her attention back to the girl who was treating this as an interrogation rather than a conversation. Catching Bonnie's glare again and feeling a little uncomfortable, Elena plastered on a small smile towards the blonde.

"I've just been doing a lot of thinking these past couple of days."

"Who cares how it's happened actually, just that it did. We are going to celebrate, right after I pee!" Caroline announced before rushing upstairs to the toilet.

Now that Caroline was out of earshot, Elena used their time alone to get things straight with Bonnie. She didn't want her to let it slip and say something stupid like she used to have a thing for Damon and that he was potentially the reason she was thinking about breaking up with Tyler. As blonde as Caroline was, she definitely wasn't an idiot and it wouldn't take much for her to catch on if Bonnie were to slip up.

"Listen, Bonnie. I know what this looks like but it has nothing to do with Damon!" Elena rushed out in a hushed whisper.

"Really, Elena? Damon's been back in town for five minutes and now you want to break up with Tyler? I just don't believe that this has nothing to do with him. I know how much you liked Damon..." she finished sympathetically.

"I was fourteen Bon, this is different. It wasn't something that Damon did or said. It was Jeremy." Elena replied.

"Jeremy?" Bonnie asked, confused.

"Damon gave me some advice. The same advice that my brother gave him and it opened my eyes to how bad my relationship with Tyler really is."

"I understand that, 'Lena. I just don't want you to get hurt again because of Damon. I just want you to be careful."

"I know you're just looking out for me, Bon. I love you for that but I know what I'm doing. So can we just drop it please?"

"Okay, sure. Just know that I'll always be here for you, okay?" Bonnie replied with a reassuring smile.

Elena smiled at her friend and nodded her head. She was glad that she had a chance to smooth things over with Bonnie. She was lucky to have a friend who looked out for her as much as she did and Elena found herself looking forward to her girl's night more than she intended to when she thought the idea up. She realized that maybe she did need her friends and a tub of ice cream, her break up with Tyler wasn't going to be smooth and she would definitely need her girlfriends to lean on in the aftermath.

"Right then, I think we deserve some of this!" Caroline announced as she came back into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine.

"Where did you get that, Care?" Bonnie asked with a massive grin.

"Well, call me psychic or something but I thought we might need some alcohol tonight and I was right! We're celebrating after all!"

* * *

Damon lifted up the glass to his lips again and took a mouthful of bourbon, welcoming the burn in his throat as he swallowed. The last few days had been excruciating in a way that he couldn't fully understand. He didn't want to but all he could think about was Elena Gilbert, his best friend's younger sister. She had invaded every his head and now he couldn't go a day without thinking about her. Ever since coming back to this god forsaken town he hadn't been able to shake her. Sunday had been the last straw in a way, there was no escaping Elena in his mind as much as he tried - she had gotten under his skin.

He slammed his glass down onto the counter as he finished another glass. The Mystic Grill was becoming a second home to him these days. Things were getting increasingly worse with his brother, Stefan was refusing to speak to Damon and every time he tried to ask him why he was so pissed, he was shot down and told to go away and Damon had no idea how to fix it. It was not like he could tie his brother up until he told him, could he?

It wouldn't be something he hadn't done to someone before...

"Something on your mind?" Damon looked up from his glass to see the blonde barmaid from a few nights ago, what was her name again?

"Yeah you could say that," he replied while lifting his glass up to her "refill?"

"Sure," she smiled brightly at him like she'd won a free vacation to the Bahamas or something as she took his glass and started pouring another shot of Jim Beam. "So what's with the long face? A girl?" she asked politely as she placed the full glass back down in front of him.

If he wasn't in a reflective mood he would have laughed at her blatant snooping into his personal life. She had no idea what kind of girl problems he was currently going through, how would you explain having a thing for your dead friend's sister who you swore to protect, while he was on his deathbed? Exactly... maybe he could just give her the watered down version though, highlights if you will about what's got him drinking alone in a bar at five in the afternoon. Ric currently wasn't around and he was about to rip his hair out if he didn't vent out his sibling frustrations to someone - the attractive barmaid would have to do.

"No girl problems, I've sort of been out of the game for a while." he worded carefully; he didn't want the whole town to know about his "heroic" adventure overseas. He knew what people were like with that sort of stuff, wanting every detail about what happened, details about stuff that he just wanted to forget _forever_.

"Dead wife?" she mused boldly as Damon raised his eyebrows. Wow, this girl certainly wasn't subtle.

"No, no, no," he rushed out quickly. He knew what small town gossip was like and he definitely didn't want it to get around Mystic Falls that he supposedly had a dead wife. "I was uh... I was in Afghanistan." he replied slowly, hoping she would just drop the subject now entirely. Even getting the words out to a was difficult, it brought him back to place he didn't ever want to return to, let alone opening up to anyone about the _details _of the place.

"Oh, I understand." she whispered.

"You do?" Damon asked, shocked. He fully expected her to chew that up and blow full steam ahead into a conversation about it.

"Yeah, one of my brother's was in the Royal Navy. He died a few years ago..." she replied woefully and Damon couldn't help but feel a small twinge of sorrow in his chest for her. He knew better than anyone what it was like to lose someone close to you because of all the fighting that was going on in different countries.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure your brother was a great guy." Damon offered, he wasn't great with this sort of stuff, comforting strangers.

"Yeah he was. Anyway, enough doom and gloom blue eyes, what's got you staring into the bottom of a glass?" she asked and he was glad she was changing the subject. She was right; he'd had enough doom and gloom regarding the war to last a lifetime.

"Let's just say my brother's not been my biggest fan since I've been home." he replied with a small, nonchalant shrug. Deep down though it bothered him a lot that his brother wasn't speaking to him, one of the things he was looking forward to the most when he was out in the desert was seeing Stefan again.

"Well take it from me, family sucks!" she said distastefully and Damon seemed to get the impression that she didn't like hers very much.

"Hey lady, we've been waiting to be served for ten minutes here!" a man shouted from the other end of the bar, gaining the blonde woman's attention.

Damon watched as she took out another glass and poured another shot of whiskey, placing it on a napkin in front of him. She flashed him a toothy grin and a wink. "That one's on me."

"Oh you got me a drink? Good, I need one!" Ric said gratefully as he sat down beside him.

"Sure Ric, you can take my drink." Damon drawled out sarcastically.

"Thanks man, I need it!" his friend replied nonchalantly, ignoring Damon's snarky tone.

"Bad day too?" he asked, curious as to why his best friend was at the bar in the afternoon with him.

"You could say that, this assignment is kicking my ass." Ric replied, picking the glass up and almost downing the whole contents at once. "Who's Rebekah?"

"What?" Damon asked, confused. Who the hell was Rebekah?

Ric then lifted the napkin up on which the barmaid had placed the drink on, a phone number and the name 'Rebekah' was signed in bright red lipstick, the same lipstick that the barmaid was wearing. Then it hit him, almost like a ton of bricks. Of course she was Rebekah; she had told him her name the first night he was back in town! He suddenly felt bad about forgetting her name.

"It's nobody." Damon answered quickly, snatching the napkin out of his hand and stuffing it into his jean pocket.

"Looks like somebody has still got it." Ric teased, holding his hands up in defence with a massive smirk on his face.

Damon rolled his eyes before replying "Shut up, dick."

"Okay, okay. Hey, are you going to the bonfire, Friday?"

"Yeah, unfortunately my mom wants me to fulfil my duties as a founding family and make an appearance. Apparently, Carol Lockwood want's to meet the 'hometown hero'." Damon retorted sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He was really starting to get sick with everyone referring to him as a hero; he wasn't anything of the sorts. If anything, he was a coward...

"Ah come on, man. It won't be that bad, I'll be there." Ric replied and Damon noticed that was strangely enthusiastic, _too_ enthusiastic.

"Jenna forcing you to go as well?" Damon declared knowingly and a loop-sided smirk formed as his best friend's face dropped.

"Yeah..." Ric looked to be contemplating something before turning to him, grinning like an idiot. Damon could practically see the light bulb above his head. "We could drink with the cool kids!" he exclaimed and frankly, Damon was disappointed. Really... 'the cool kids'?

"The cool kids?" Damon replied, gibingly.

"Remember when we were in high school and everyone would just go by The Falls and get drunk? They still do it, we could get drunk with them!" he stated as if it was obvious.

Did the guy forget that we were like four, five years older than everyone else? It was the most absurd idea Damon had ever heard in his entire life, the kids would probably think that they were creepy guys waiting to take advantage of drunken girls. They would have the sheriff knocking their doors in no time. However, there would be a chance that he'd see Elena.

Oh how he could imagine Elena in a pair of her tight jeans and black leather jacket, much like Saturday night. _Fuck! _He needed to stop thinking about her like that, she was off limits. _Way_ off limits, he already crossed the line Sunday with his shameless staring at the dinner table. He couldn't help it though; she looked so beautiful in the blue shirt and skin tight jeans she was wearing that he found it impossible to keep his eyes off her.

"Hey Damon, will you stop day dreaming for like five minutes?" Ric expressed, bringing him out of his Elena induced fantasy.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said that it's probably not a good idea, actually. We'd look like Logan Fell." Damon laughed a little at the mental image Ric had painted into his head. Logan Fell was the creepiest guy back when they were in high school. He used to hang around the cemetery on his own and claim that he was a vampire and was one day going to drink everyone's blood. Safe to say he wasn't exactly all there.

"Yeah, you're right." Damon replied and he had other reasons for not following up on Ric's mastermind plan.

He didn't think he could bump into Elena Gilbert when alcohol was involved and not end up throwing her into his bed and never letting her leave. It was better for the both of them if they kept their distance from each other for a while...

* * *

AN: So this was mostly a filler chapter but it was important in a way that it sets up the next chapter really well and the next chapter is a big one in terms of development! I also delved a little into Damon's psychology regarding his experiences in the war, I'm not sure whether I'll make his experiences a major part of the story but I thought that it at _least_ needed to be addressed a little. I also forgot in my first author's note, but thank you to all the Guests that have reviewed! You should all make accounts so that I can thank you all personally ;)!

I would also just like to say a big thank you to my friend, Anna who helped me out by giving me some great ideas for this story!


	7. Chapter 6

AN: Hey guys! I'm really nervous/excited to post this chapter, because in my opinion it's a big one in terms of development. The main reason that this took so long is probably because it's definitely the longest chapter so far and I really wanted it to be good. I must have re-written parts of this chaoter about a dozen times before I was satisfied. I also need to get around to replying to your reviews! I know I suck at getting back to you all but I've been busy as of late and when I did get any spare time, it was spent writing this chapter. But I promise I will get around to you all!

Also I would like to give a massive thank you to my new beta, Courtney (**cdaye8184**) who helped me with the chapter and for also being patient with me as I got used to the whole beta'ing process. She's a star!

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 6

* * *

Elena woke up on Friday feeling nauseous. Tonight was the bonfire that everyone had been buzzing about for the past week, according to her mom it was important that she was at the bonfire because the town was dedicating the first founder's event of many to Damon for his bravery overseas. Elena had to admit that she felt an immense amount of pride for him and her brother, they gave up everything to help protect their country. Tonight was also the night that she decided she was going to tell Tyler about her recent revelation. One where she re-evaluated her decisions and what she wanted from life, a life that she ultimately decided she didn't want to share with him, at least not romantically.

Maybe that was the reason why she was feeling sick, she was nervous and she didn't think she would be able to do it. Elena knew that breaking up with Tyler would be the best for both of them, she didn't want to be with him anymore and stringing him along any further would just be cruel. But with all the history they had together in the past couple of months, she was struggling with the idea of letting him go. Without Tyler to keep her grounded and to comfort her, who would be there for her if another disaster were to happen? If it wasn't for him, she didn't even want to think of what she would have been like when Jeremy died. He saved her in a way. When the world turned it's back on her, he welcomed her with open arms.

Would she really be able to let go of him? She knew that the romantic feelings she had for him were fading but the idea of letting go of the safety net he provided scared her to death.

She tried thinking of something else, anything to distract her from the sickening feeling in the core of her stomach. She'd never been the person to end things with someone before, back when she and Matt had dated a year or two ago, he had been the one to end their relationship. She knew now that they were never meant to be and weren't compatible with each other as a couple but at the time she felt as though he'd broke her heart. Now she was on the opposite end of the situation and the guilt was eating away at her, she was going to hurt Tyler and there was nothing she could do about it.

Elena needed to do things for herself for once, for too long she'd been the one to put other people's needs before her own, it was the way she had been brought up. But for the first time in her life she was doing what she wanted, what she needed to do. She couldn't be in this relationship anymore, she wasn't happy and Tyler certainly didn't seem very satisfied. It was time to cut ties with each other while things were still moderately good between them.

A slight knock at the door brought Elena out of her mentation. "Come in," she muttered loud enough for whoever was outside to hear and grabbed her hairbrush, starting to brush her tangled brunette locks. Miranda poked her head through the door with a bright smile beaming on her face, which made her look even more beautiful. "Hey mom."

"Hey hunny. I'm just letting you know that I'm not going to see you until tonight. The hospital called for an emergency so I'm gonna just get ready over Jenna's then meet you over there, okay?" Miranda said, sweetly.

"Sure, mom. I won't be on my own anyway, Caroline and Bonnie are coming over to get ready." Elena replied, knowing that her mother would be worried about her being in the house by herself all day.

"Okay, remember to eat before you go out! I left some money for takeout on the kitchen counter." her mother responded before saying goodbye and rushing out to work.

Her thoughts trailed back towards tonight and Damon. Tonight was essentially his big night, whether he knew it or not. Carol Lockwood had insisted that the first founder's event of the year be dedicated to him for his services in the war. However, she wasn't entirely sure whether he would appreciate it or not. She knew that she wasn't the closest person to him but she liked to think that she knew him to some extent. She thought that whereas four years ago he would have indulged in the attention, she wasn't sure that this newer version of Damon, the more experienced and mature Damon would appreciate having to stand on stage while people he didn't even know celebrated the fact that he was one of few to even make it back alive. It had changed him, that was no secret and to be perfectly honest, she didn't think it was something Damon felt was worth celebrating.

Elena's phone buzzed off on the table beside her. She picked her phone up opening her text message, half expecting it to be Tyler asking her if she was still going to the bonfire. She breathed a sigh of relief when Caroline's named flashed across her screen. Elena didn't know what she would do if she saw Tyler before the bonfire tonight, she would probably either blurt out that she wanted to break up with him on the spot or she would have chickened out completely and she really didn't want to do that. She was set on the idea that this was the right thing to do.

Caroline: Hey babe! Are you ready for tonight? If you need backup with Tyler you know I got your back ;)

Elena smiled at her phone. Of course her friends had her back, but she wasn't worried that Tyler would do anything to her. She was just worried that he'd end up hating her by the end of tonight. Typing back her reply, telling her that she and Bonnie could get ready over her house, Elena flopped back down onto her bed.

A few hours later, all three of the girls were in Elena's bedroom getting ready for the bonfire. While Elena didn't really see much of a point in the founders events she did enjoy the excuse to dress up beautifully, like her mom.

"So have you thought about how you're going to break it to him?" Caroline asked while applying some eyeliner. Oh Elena had thought about it constantly for the past twenty four hours.

"Yeah, but I can't think of a way to do it without sounding like a bitch." Elena replied, lamely to which Caroline rolled her eyes.

"You can tell this is your first time breaking up with someone." she muttered and turned to face Elena.

"She broke up with Matt, remember?" Bonnie piped in as she came into Elena's bedroom from the en-suite bathroom with one towel wrapped around her chest and one her hair.

Bonnie had come straight to Elena's from her part-time job. She was working at the flower shop and didn't want to waste time going back to her house so Elena had told her not to bother and to come straight over. After all, what was the point in having an en-suit bathroom if your friends couldn't use it, right?

"Matt doesn't count. He broke up with her, it's different this time." the blonde continued.

"Guys I am standing right here!" Elena exclaimed, feeling belittled as they spoke about her as if she weren't there. "I just don't want to hurt him..."

Caroline's eyes softened. "Elena, there's nothing you can do to stop that. Unless you stay with him but then that's hurting you. For once you need to stop being a martyr and be selfish. You have to do this for yourself you realize that right? If you stay with Tyler... you'll never be truly happy and you'll spend your days thinking 'what if'."

They were right, all of this worrying about breaking up with Tyler was unnecessary. It was better for them both in the long run anyway, she knew that they were both unhappy. She wondered if maybe he would feel relieved to finally get rid of her after tonight. For all she knew, he didn't even want to be with her but was afraid of hurting her feelings, maybe that was the reason for his shady behaviour. Maybe this break up wouldn't be as bad as she thought, if they were both unhappy and wanted different things, their break up wouldn't have to be messy, they could be friends.

"Yeah you're right." Elena replied, feeling better now than she had for the past twenty four hours.

* * *

The three of them arrived at the The Falls around seven. The Falls was where the waterfall that the town was named after was, which was located at the edge of town, near Wickery Bridge. Ever since the founders events were formed back in 1864, the people of Mystic Falls celebrated the origins of their town by having the first founders event of the year by the waterfall. Although Mystic Falls may not be the most interesting town in the world, Elena was definitely proud to say that she was a founding family member. She loved the history of the town and she looked forward to these founders events all year**-**round. It was the perfect opportunity for her to have fun.

Elena looked around at the surrounding trees that had bright orange lanterns hanging off the branches. The light illuminated the area, lighting up the dark woods. The whole place was filled with townspeople as every other year. Families, teenagers, even the oldest residents of Mystic Falls were there to celebrate the founding families - although they only stayed until the speech was given. The whole community had gathered to celebrate the town's rich history and she was pretty sure that Ric was loving this, knowing how much he loved places with rich history.

"There's your mom." Caroline said, pointing over to the stage that was positioned just in front of the waterfall.

Elena's eyes trailed past the cute couple holding hands and the old woman sitting in the wooden chair to the stage centered at the front of the walkway and her eyes landed on her mother. She was looking as beautiful and elegant as ever in the white dress she was wearing, her dark locks of hair spiraled down her back and her chocolate, brown eyes focused on Carol Lockwood as she listened to what the woman was saying.

"Okay, I'm just gonna go and speak to her quickly." Elena replied before walking over towards her mom and the mother of her boyfriend that she was about to break up with. Elena swallowed as a lump formed in her throat, things were about to get really awkward.

"Elena hunny, you look beautiful!" her mother breathed out as she looked at Elena, indirectly ignoring Carol.

She stood there as her mother complimented her. Miranda looked as though she hadn't seen her in years, water glistened in her eyes and a large smile was etched across her face. She looked beautiful, happy and... proud. Elena gave her a small, timid smile. She felt crushed under the weight of her mother's adoring eyes, she didn't believe that she looked all that great. All she had done really was curl her hair and apply a little bit of makeup. Nothing worthy of the look she was having directed at her from her mom.

"Thanks mom." Elena replied, shyly. She wasn't used to being praised much for her looks. She guessed a part of her was a little insecure considering Tyler hardly ever complimented her.

Carol turned to look at her and Elena saw her nose crinkle up in what could only be taken as disappointment or disgust. Elena didn't take it to heart though, she knew that Tyler's mother hated her. Carol had disliked her ever since she and Tyler had started dating a few months back. Before they got together she had been nice to Elena, never a wrong word said about her or a dirty look shot at her. But ever since they started dating, her attitude to Elena changed and she began muttering snide remarks under her breath and shooting her dirty looks when she thought Elena wasn't looking.

Carol Lockwood was the type of mother who thought that nobody was good enough for her son. Elena remembered the time that she'd went downstairs to get a glass of water in the Lockwood Mansion and she overheard Carol speak to her book club friends about how Elena wasn't good enough for Tyler and how she was bringing him down with her. At the time, Elena was hurt that Carol thought that way about her but as the weeks passed, she learned not let it bother her too much.

"Elena dear, you do look beautiful." Carol said, plastering on an obvious forced smile.

"Thanks." Elena murmured. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't really interested in Carol's opinion of how she looked.

"Oh, that reminds me. Have you seen Tyler?" Carol asked and Elena could hear the underlying venom in her tone, although her mother seemed oblivious to it.

Elena's throat tightened. She hoped that she wouldn't see him for at least another hour, just long enough for her to get some type of alcohol into her system to help with her courage. Elena had a feeling that after tonight, Carol's hatred for her would increase ten fold, she was just about to break up with her son - the son who was apparently too good for her to begin with.

"N-No, I haven't." Elena croaked out, stuttering a little as her throat suddenly felt dry. She needed a drink, now.

"Okay, well if you find him will you tell him I need to speak with him please?" she asked and Elena nodded her head, afraid that she wouldn't be able to get words out if she opened her mouth.

Spotting Caroline and Bonnie over by one of the trees, waiting for her with a red cup in hand, no doubt full of the alcohol that she so desperately needed right now. She didn't want to sound like an alcoholic but she didn't think she could get through tonight without it. Excusing herself, Elena quickly hurried over towards her friends, grateful of getting away from the tense atmosphere over by Carol.

"What took you so long?" Bonnie asked as she took the spare red plastic cup out of her friend's hand and downed the contents in one gulp, the vodka stinging the back of her throat as it went down.

"Carol." Elena replied to which her friends just nodded, they knew all to well what Carol was like after Elena told them about the 'book club' incident.

"The ceremony's starting!" Caroline exclaimed, excitedly. Elena knew that she loved the founders events ever since she moved to Mystic Falls and was adamant about winning this years Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

She took a moment to look at her best friend. Her beautiful, golden hair flowed down around her shoulders, bouncing up and down with life as she nodded her head. Her piercing blue eyes reminded her of Damon as she looked forward, concentrating on the stage. Elena thought that she was definitely going to win the title this year, she was the most gorgeous looking girl in the town and Elena envied her for that. She had all the guys from school's attention but she ignored them all, claiming that she was waiting for the right guy, although Elena knew better - she'd already found him.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Let's give our hometown hero a homecoming he deserves," Carol spoke enthusiastically into the microphone. "Please welcome to the stage... Damon Salvatore!"

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as they waited for Damon to step onto the stage. Elena felt the butterflies bounce around in her stomach as his name was mentioned. She was nervous for him. Since he'd been back in town, she didn't know much about how he felt about being named a 'hero' but when she heard Jenna mention it to him the other night at dinner, he shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

Something told her that he didn't think of himself as much of a hero and that made her wonder why...

Her breath was sucked in sharply as he walked onto the stage looking dashing, gorgeous and irresistible as always. She didn't even both to question why he had this effect on her anymore, it was becoming more natural as the days went on. He was wearing a leather jacket, a black button down as always, with a pair of blue denim jeans and brown boots and Elena's eyes lingered on his behind as he turned to shake Carol's hand. She consciously wiped her mouth with the back of her hand just in case she was showing a repeat of last Sunday when she was caught 'drooling' over him.

She watched as he stepped in front of the podium. Everyone who had no idea who he really was probably expected him to say a great speech thanking everybody but Elena knew better, he was probably going to plaster on one of those famous smirk and say something arrogant to undermine the whole thing. It was his style.

Damon placed his hands on the podium and leaned forward slightly, his lip curled up slightly to the left, confirming her suspicions. She clenched her hands into tiny fists to the side of her, bracing herself for what he was about to say when his eyes landed on her.

His smile faltered momentarily as his eyes locked with hers. The blue in his eyes was almost blinding as they pierced her. The world seemed to stand to a halt for a few minutes as he just stared at her, she'd never felt more naked in her life. He flashed her a small, genuine smile that melted her insides before his smirk was fully back into place, almost as if putting on a mask to hide his emotions.

"You know, I'm sure you're all expecting a great speech about my heroic actions," he said with a roll of his eyes. What are you doing Damon? "But the truth is that there's nothing heroic at all about fighting in a pointless war that's not worth the consequences. I lost a friend over there - a brother. Someone from Mystic Falls," he laughed bitterly. "But none of you care that Jeremy died, you all just care about yourselves. Especially you, Carol. " he said, turning to face Carol and Elena noted with small delight that she looked livid. "You only want me up here, hoping it get's put into the newspaper so that it makes you look good. So that the lovely residents of Mystic Falls vote your husband for Mayor again..." he noted with disgust as he took a small flask from the inside of his leather jacket, raising it to his lips.

Then it clicked. He was drunk.

"I think you've had enough, Damon." Alaric said, swooping in for the rescue and taking Damon's arm.

Elena watched as Damon shrugged of Ric's arm, his eyes blazing with fury. She had no idea what had brought this little meltdown from Damon but she was worried, worried that this was only the start. God knows what he went through in Afghanistan and it was clear that he doesn't want to speak about it. Elena's mom had told her that whenever Sofia or anyone else tries to talk about his experiences in the Marines, he just snaps at them and changes the subject. No wonder he was self destructive tonight when the whole town wanted him to tell his story as if it were an autobiography.

"Wow. Have we just stepped into a real life drama show?" Caroline rudely blurted out after watching the exchange.

Elena turned to look at Caroline and bit her lip to stop her from saying something she might regret. It wasn't her fault that she didn't understand what Damon went through, what her brother went through. It didn't make it any less annoying though...

"Caroline don't say that, it's disrespectful!" Bonnie jumped in before Elena said anything and Caroline muttered a small apology.

Bonnie's eyes caught hers and Elena didn't miss the worried expression drawn across her face and Elena fought the urge to roll her eyes. It was as if Bonnie expected her to drop everything and run across the woods to see how Damon was. It wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed her mind but she just found it irritating that Bonnie was keeping an eye on her as if she was forbidden to see him.

"Hey look, there's Tyler!" Caroline exclaimed pointing over to a group of boys, slurring a little as she held the red cup in her left hand.

Elena's eyes quickly flickered to the side of the stage to see Damon and Ric in what looked like to be a heated exchange. She gulped and thought the argument they were having would be nothing compared to what her and Tyler were probably going to be like in a few minutes. Looking over to the group of boys that Caroline pointed at, she saw Tyler in the midst of them, wearing his red and yellow letterman jacket. Elena suddenly found herself intimidated by the group of footballers surrounding him, she couldn't break up with him in front of them - it would ruin him. She had to do it alone, just the two of them.

Taking another red cup from Bonnie, Elena downed the contents in one again, hoping that the alcohol would make her brave enough to actually go through with this break up. Her conscience was eating up at her but she knew that she had to do this. It was the best for both of them. It wasn't fair to Tyler if she kept this relationship going when she knew that she could never love him.

Not the way he expected her to.

She walked over to the crowd of guys, the alcohol warming her belly and fueling her confidence. As she was walking over she caught a glimpse of Matt who offered her a small smile and a nod. Returning his smile, she then turned her attention to her boyfriend... soon to be ex-boyfriend and caught the crook of his elbow, spinning him to face her. His face crunched up as he frowned, probably angry that she interrupted his conversation but she didn't care, she needed to speak to him and this was the perfect opportunity.

"Tyler, I need to speak to you." Elena said, determined to do this now more than ever.

He shot her an irritated look before replying "Go on then. Anything you have to say you can say it in front of my friends."

"No! I mean, I need to speak to you alone." she emphasized, hoping that Tyler took the hint.

She needed to speak to him alone, she couldn't break up with him in front of his friends, that would be just plain cruel.

Tyler's eyebrows shot up as a large grin formed on his face. He looked to the side to one of his friends with a toothy grin and downed the rest of his drink, which no doubt had some sort of alcohol in - most probably beer. Tyler had always used these founders' events as an excuse to go crazy. After finishing his drink, he threw the cup on the floor and took her hand into his. His grip was firm, strong and she felt the tingles of pain shoot through her hand but she ignored it as he dragged her away from the crowd, further into the woods.

"Baby, I've been waiting for this for so long, you have no idea!" he exclaimed abruptly before spinning around to her and pushing his lips roughly against hers.

Elena stood there as his lips crashed down onto her mouth, she was frozen to the spot in shock. This wasn't meant to be happening, he wasn't supposed to be kissing her right now. She noticed that his lips were dry and forceful and she felt how wrong this was. Her hands pushed slightly against his arms, hoping that he would stop but he misunderstood her intentions and pushed his lips more forcefully against hers. Tyler's hands moved from her waist down to her ass as he groped it firmly, snapping her out of any hesitancy she was having.

She pushed him away from her, using all of her strength to move his muscular body away from her. He stumbled back from her, his face full of anger while he slightly swaying on his feet which indicated that he was probably drunk. "What's wrong, Elena?" he sounded frustrated and generally pissed off at her for stopping him.

"You can't just kiss me, Tyler!" she exclaimed and she knew that she sounded stupid to him considering they were together, but he didn't know what she was about to do.

"Why the hell not?" he replied, furious and the tension between them that had been building and building for the past few weeks was bubbling on the surface.

"I can't do this anymore!" she replied, tears brimming her eyes.

"You can't do what Elena?" his tone was icy and harsh and she thought he knew exactly what was coming next.

"I can't be with you anymore." she said, breathlessly. She let the tears fall, streaming down her face as she gauged his reaction.

Then he did the last thing she ever imagined him doing. He laughed.

"Are you actually being serious?" he asked as his laughter finally subdued.

All the the confidence drained out of her and she couldn't get any words out. She definitely hadn't expected him to laugh at her. She felt humiliated. Did he think this was some sort of joke that she was playing on him? Not trusting her voice to break if she spoke, she simply nodded her head at him, hoping he'd finally start taking this seriously and not as some poor April Fools prank.

"Wow... I can't believe it's you who's breaking up with me. Especially after dealing with all the shit you've put on me these past few weeks. You bitch!" he exclaimed bitterly, suddenly turning serious.

"I-I'm sorry," Elena choked out, not really knowing what to say to soothe the situation. There was nothing she could do. "I should go."

Elena moved to walk past Tyler, hoping to leave him alone and go drown her guilt in more alcohol. She tried to ignore the pain in her chest when he referred to her as a bitch, she deserved it after all. Just as she was about to make her way back to the party, Tyler's hand wrapped around her arm, squeezing it as he pulled her back to him.

"I don't think so you little slut! You don't understand how long I've been waiting for you to put out." he said, viciously dragging her towards him, his hands locked around her arms in an iron grip.

"Tyler, you're hurting me!" Elena replied, trying to rip her arms free from him.

"Just be quiet! I'm going to fuck you one way or another!"

Tyler pushed her up against a tree, her back slamming into the trunk causing pain to shoot all the way down her spine. Tears ran down her face freely as she tried to kick and push herself free of him. Unfortunately for her, a 165lbs football player was almost impossible to move, especially when all of his weight was pressing her further into the tree, splinters of wood pushing themselves into her shoulders and back. It was no use trying to struggle, he was too strong for her. The only thing running through her mind as he hiked her dress up to her waist was what sort of monster was Tyler? All the time they were dating she would have never thought he was capable of this.

"Shut up!" he snapped when she let out a small whimper.

The sound of a belt buckle coming undone and a fly unzipping echoed throughout the dead forest, the party seemed miles away now and what was supposed to be a great night was going to end with Tyler doing the most horrific thing she ever thought possible... he was going to rape her. Elena closed her eyes and bit her lip, waiting in anticipation for what was about to happen, she heard that the first time hurt. This wasn't meant to be the way it happened, this wasn't supposed to be the way she lost her-

_"What the fuck is going on!?"_

* * *

Damon couldn't believe the audacity of Carol Lockwood. Who the hell did she think she was to ask that of him? Everyone thought that dedicating the whole bonfire was an honor for him, a compliment but it was the complete opposite. It was a slap in the face, an insult. He was no hero and he hated the fact that everyone kept referring to him as one. When he first stepped onto the stage, he had a rehearsed speech in his head of what he was going to say, the perfect lie that would trick the town into thinking that he was a hero but one look into those brown, doe eyes had changed his mind completely.

The truth was they didn't care about him or Jeremy and what they did for their country. Of course the pissed off look on Carol's face only made it better when he messed up what was supposed to be a well rehearsed speech that made her look like the perfect, considerate woman. No doubt she'd probably hate him for showing everybody her true colors but it's not like he cared. He didn't particularly like any of the Lockwood family either.

He stumbled further into the woods, trying to put some space between himself and the party that was going on near The Falls. He needed some breathing space.

Damon swore under his breath as he walked, Ric had taken his flask when he thought that Damon was drunk. Of course when he was on the stage he wasn't drunk at all, even though he wanted to be. Him taking his flask out of his pocket and drinking some was just another thing to piss off Carol. All though Ric had thought he was and took away any chance of him actually being able to get drunk. He wasn't going to downgrade himself and drink the cheap, sad excuse of beer that they had left so now he was just pissed off.

He sat down by a tree and closed his eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet. He thought back to how beautiful Elena looked tonight in her dress. It fitted her curves perfectly and when he saw her on the stage, he had to restrain himself from walking over to her, taking her in his arms and having his way with her all night.

_"Tyler, you're hurting me!"_ A voice echoed through the trees and for a second, Damon thought he was going insane. That sounded like Elena...

The voice drifted to him faintly again and then like a bucket of water had been chucked over his head, he realized that it was Elena. He didn't think he'd ever shot up as fast as he did when he heard her voice for the second time. She sounded like she was stressed, like she was in pain. He followed the voice through the trees, walking deeper into the woods. Why the hell was she even out here anyway?

As he got closer, the voices grew louder, clearer and he could hear another person - a guy. Damon felt as though his heart dropped into his stomach, about ten different scenarios were running through his head and as much as he'd hate to admit it, he wished it was just Elena fooling around with a guy. But he knew better than that.

When he finally came into the clearing and saw Elena pressed up against a tree, her mascara streaming down her face as it mixed with tears, he saw red and had to clench his hands together into fists and bite down on his lip to stop himself from killing the large figure standing over her. Because he sure as hell wanted too.

"What the fuck is going on!?" he demanded and the figure standing over Elena mumbled a few curse words as he turned around to see a furious looking Damon.

"Nothing, it's none of your business." The guy replied, arrogantly and it made Damon want to punch him in the face even more.

"It is when she's crying." Damon bit out, clenching his fists so hard that he could feel his nails cutting into his skin.

"Dude, do you even know who I am?" he asked and Damon fought the urge to roll his eyes. Dude, really, dude? The guy was a tool.

Damon knew all too well who this guy was. Judging by the arrogance, the short dark hair and chiseled jawline, he was a Lockwood. The resemblance to Mason was too alike that he would have to be an idiot not to put two and two together. That made him the second Lockwood tonight to get on his bad side. Only this time he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop at just a few snide remarks. Not when Elena was sitting on the cold ground with her arms wrapped around herself looking like she'd almost been forced to do something that she didn't want to do.

He took a second to look at Elena. She was sitting against the tree, her slim arms were hugging herself as he saw her shiver, her eyes were just blank. Almost as if she had no idea what was going on around her. Mascara and tears stained her cheeks and her lips were turning blue from the cold. He just wanted to run over to her, wrap her up and take her away from the world.

"I don't care who you are, if you ever want to throw a football again in your life, you've got two options. One, you're going to fuck off and get out of here, no trouble. Or option two, I make you." Damon said, his voice icy and deadly.

"You make me?" he replied with a cocky smirk on his face. The guy thought he could take on the world. It made Damon wonder if he even knew who he was, or if he just wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, starting with an ex-Marine.

Damon knew what was coming next before Tyler even threw his fist. His stance made it completely obvious as well as the sudden clench in his fists. When his right foot stepped back to put some momentum into the punch, Damon was already moving around him, taking his arm with him in one motion, pushing the arm awkwardly up the football player's back. Someone watching might have thought with amazement or fear that what he done seemed impossible, but it was second nature to Damon now.

"I will break your arm, quarterback." Damon whispered into Tyler's ear, a sinister tone making the guy shiver.

"Okay, okay, I'll go." Tyler pleaded and Damon released his arm. The urge to punch the guy in the face was overwhelming but he didn't think breaking the Mayor's son's jaw would win him any brownie points.

When Tyler ran off, back to the party holding his arm, Damon looked over to Elena who hadn't moved a muscle since he saw her. The sudden nausea that he was feeling was probably because of the fact that if he hadn't been here to stop it, god knows what would have happened to Elena when that jackass was done with her. He hated the thought of that. Shrugging off his jacket, he moved to drape it around her shoulders when she suddenly snapped out of whatever state she was in and screamed.

"No, no! Get off me!" her pleading voice was heartbreaking and when he firmly tilted her head up to meet his and saw the tears in her eyes, he felt as though he needed to protect her from the world. From everything, he never wanted to see this girl cry again.

"Hey, it's me. It's Damon." he said breathlessly, willing her to recognize him.

"Damon?" she replied and then burst into tears, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him to her.

All Damon could do as she sobbed into his shoulder was secure his arm under her legs and lift her up into his arms. Screw the party and screw the Lockwood's, he was taking her home to bed. Once she was safely in his arms and he was comfortable holding her, he started walking in the opposite direction of the party to his car. He was careful to avoid the party so that nobody would cause a scene with Elena in the state she was in. Somehow he knew that would be the last thing she'd want.

The drive to her house was silent, with Elena looking out the window and Damon focusing on driving, thinking about what kind of mess Elena had gotten herself into with this Tyler guy. When they finally made it to the Gilbert house, he quickly climbed out the car and around to the passenger side to lift Elena back into her arms. As he carried her to the front door, he forgot that he was missing one vital thing to getting her inside - a key.

Elena didn't seem to have a bag on her either... Shit!

"The plant pot." Elena murmured, almost as if she was reading his mind.

After fumbling with the plant pot and finally getting the front door open, he carried her upstairs to her bedroom and carefully placed her down on the bed. He had to admit that this wasn't particularly the way he imagined the first time being in Elena's bedroom, not that he'd imagined it before or anything.

"Maybe you should get into something a bit more comfortable?" Damon offered softly as she sat on the edge of her bed, looking into the mirror on the wall.

She just nodded and made her way into the en-suite bathroom. Once she shut the door and he heard the faint sound of the lock clicking into place, he ran his hand through his thick, black locks and sighed. He was angry with himself for not punishing the Lockwood kid anymore, but he knew that he couldn't hit him because the Sheriff would be at his door faster than you can say Indiana Jones.

The unmissable sound of the door unlocking brought him back to reality. Elena emerged in a purple camisole top and a pair of shorts, with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Damon tried to ignore the rapid increase in his heart rate and tried to focus on what was important right now. Getting her into bed so that she can forget this disaster of a day.

She offered him a small smile before she climbed under the comforters which made him think that she could get past this. Hell, she was probably the strongest woman he'd ever met in his life. After the loss of her dad and brother, she'd been through enough pain to last a lifetime. This was just going to be a bad dream for her, she'd wake up tomorrow morning and keep fighting. He was positive...

"Goodnight Elena." he whispered, tucking a small strand of hair away from her forehead. Her eyes were already closed and he thought that she'd already fallen asleep. And he couldn't blame her after what she'd just been through.

"Damon wait," she said urgently, speaking for the first time since they stepped foot in the house. Her voice was hoarse as her fingers wrapped around his wrist, stopping him from leaving. "Stay..."

His breath caught in his throat as she whispered the invitation that would surely be the worst idea ever. But one look at the angel in front of him and the pleading in her voice made it impossible for him to reject her. She was his weakness, his Achilles heel and he feared that those brown, doe eyes held all the power in the world to crush him. Afraid that his voice would fail him if he spoke, he simply nodded his head. The vice grip she had on his wrist loosened and he soon settled himself into the spot next to her.

After about fifteen minutes, her breathing evened out indicating that she'd fallen asleep. Somewhere in between that quarter of an hour, she'd scooted closer to him and now one of her arms were draped across his chest with her head in between the crook of his neck. He smoothed her hair down with his hand, listening to the soft, therapeutic beating of her heart.

Even after everything that happened tonight, one thing was made abundantly clear to him. _He was so screwed._


	8. Chapter 7

AN: Hey guys! YES, I am still alive in case any of you were wondering. I think I owe you guys one massive apology here, for updating even later than I usually do. I'm into the homestretch of college right now I was sick a few weeks ago for a while so finding some time to write the chapter while busting my ass to catch up was a nightmare! I do come bearing good news for you all. With college coming to a close and summer approaching, I'll find myself with a lot more spare time to write so in like four or five weeks, updates should be coming fairly quicker.

Also, a huge thanks to my beta Courtney (**cdaye8184**) for helping me with this, even though she's been busy herself lately! Once again, I'm really sorry this took so long but hopefully you can all forgive me. I made this chapter completely DE focused to sweeten the apology ;)

**Fate Brought Us Together**

Chapter 7

* * *

Elena felt an unusual warmth envelope her as she woke up. Her tired eyes struggled for a few seconds as she opened them and her heart almost jumped out of her chest as she took in the two large arms wrapped around her. Her back was pressed up against something hard and muscular and then it finally clicked that she wasn't in bed alone. Elena panicked for a moment or two as she tried to figure out who the hell was in bed with her... she hadn't done anything with Tyler had she last night?

She ignored the small, rhythmic throbbing in her head and carefully tried to twist her body around so she could face him but the large arms around her tightened in response, as if they didn't want to let her go. If she wasn't anxious that her plan last night had failed and she'd ended up spending the night with Tyler, she probably would have found the small gesture heart-warming. After a few minutes of positioning herself uncomfortably so that she was facing her intruder of sorts, she let out a small gasp as she took in the sleeping form of Damon next to her. All rational thoughts in her mind took a backseat as she took these few seconds to just look at him. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, as if nothing in the world troubled him. His usual sharp and rugged features were soft and the black strands of dishevelled bed-hair that he had was adorable.

_Okay Elena, try to focus now. Why the hell is Damon in your bed? _She thought as she tried to make sense of why the raven haired man was currently lying next to her. She thought hard about last night, trying to ignore the headache that was pounding at her.

And just like that, the whole of last night came flooding back, hitting her like a straight punch to the gut. Everything that Tyler did played back like a home movie as she was forced to relive everything that he tried to do to her. The way his hands pushed her against the tree roughly, the names he called her and how he tried to... no. She wouldn't let herself cry over him again. He didn't deserve anymore of her tears. Elena blinked back her unshed tears and looked up at the man who saved her. As she looked up at him she felt an immense amount of adoration and awe for this man. This angel sleeping beside her had saved her from the worst thing she could imagine and she didn't have the first clue how to thank him for it.

She knew she shouldn't let her old feelings creep back on her but with everything that's happened since he came home; it was proving to be impossible. He was so different yet so alike to his eighteen year old counterpart and she was easily finding herself falling back into that same familiar sense of admiration for him as before. It was absolutely terrifying how much influence he had over herand how easy it was for him to weasel his way into her life and her heart so effortlessly.

Deciding not to dwell too much on what was going on inside of her brain; she snuggled in closer to Damon and wrapped her arms around his muscular chest, breathing him in. She knew that things were about to change as soon as they woke back to reality and she didn't know whether it was going to be for better or for worse but right now, she just wanted a few more minutes of laying down with the man she'd come to care for so much, wrapped up in his arms where she'd never felt safer in her entire life. As she placed her head on his chest and closed her eyes, for just a second she could pretend that this wouldn't be the last time she'd wake up in his arms again.

Two hours later, Elena woke up to empty bed-sheets beside her. She pushed away the pang of disappointment that she felt and dragged herself into the bathroom, eager to wash away any leftover make-up she had left on her face and jump into the shower. Maybe she could wash away all of her memories of last night away. She felt so embarrassed as she looked into the mirror and saw smeared mascara across her cheeks, she looked an absolute state. No wonder Damon bolted so quickly.

After showering and scrubbing her skin until it was red raw, trying to rub away the horrible memories of feeling Tyler's skin on hers, she jumped out of the shower and walked into her bedroom, the smell of coffee invading her senses. Great, her mom was home and she was probably going to start playing twenty questions with her about last night. She wasn't sure if she could handle that right now.

Elena quickly put her wavy hair into a bun and got dressed into a pair of jeans and a burgundy camisole top. At least now she was dressed appropriately to go downstairs. Who knows, maybe she could get away without a grilling from her mom if she was lucky. Deciding to just bite the bullet and get on with it, she took a deep breath and willed herself not to give anything away to her mom if she was asked about last night. The last thing she wanted was to blurt out what Tyler had done to her mother of all people; she just wanted to put this awful experience behind her, never to be spoken of again.

The last thing Elena expected to see as she walked into the kitchen was the sight of Damon sitting on the kitchen stool with the newspaper open, while sipping on a mug of coffee, _her_ mug to be exact. Yeah so she had a personal mug, so what. The real concern was that Damon was sitting in her kitchen, in all his glory acting almost as if the place was his.

"You know, it's rude to stare." he said, his eyes never leaving the newspaper as he took another sip out of her mug.

"I thought you left." Elena replied, ignoring his smug tone.

"I did. I went home to have a shower and change, then came back." he shrugged nonchalantly, still reading the newspaper.

For the first time since she'd come downstairs into the kitchen, she noticed how his black hair was slightly damp from his shower and the grey V-neck shirt that clung to him tightly. He must have also had a shave because the small amount of stubble that he had around his jawline last night was gone. She had to admit that while she enjoyed his slightly rough look, he looked even better when he cleaned up.

"Oh, okay." she said, lamely. _I don't think this could get any more awkward._

"Listen, Elena. About last night..." he started, finally putting down the newspaper and raising his cobalt blue eyes to meet her chocolate brown ones.

"Don't Damon." she quickly cut him off, "I'm really grateful for what you did last night but I don't want to talk about it. I just want to forget it ever happened."

"Okay then, grab your jacket." he shrugged and Elena half expected him to fight with her on it. That's what everyone else would do.

"Excuse me?" she asked, a little confused.

"Well I don't know about you but I'm starving and whoever's in charge of buying the food in this house sucks at it." he smirked and wait a minute? Was he asking her to go for breakfast with him? Like a date?

"Sure, I'll get my jacket now." she replied and she couldn't quite believe her own mouth. Had she just accepted Damon's offer of breakfast without freaking out over it? She never thought she'd see the day.

"Well come on then, we haven't got all day." Damon deadpanned before shrugging on his leather jacket and making his way to the door.

"Wait. I need to go upstairs and change quickly if were going out." Elena replied and by change she meant put some extra make up on. She probably already looked like a walking zombie compared to him, he made looking beautiful look effortless.

"Relax Elena, you look fine. Now come on, breakfast finishes at twelve."

* * *

After a few minutes of bickering and finally giving into Elena about changing her clothes, Damon was waiting outside, leaning against the hood of his car. A couple of minutes later, Elena came bounding out of the house in what looked like the same tight fitted jeans she was wearing earlier and a black camisole shirt, accompanied by the brown leather jacket she was wearing. Damon rolled his eyes at the fact that he'd just been waiting ten minutes for her to change her purple top to a black one - just for breakfast.

"You took your time." Damon commented, looking at the invisible watch on his wrist with a smirk.

"Oh shut up." she chided with a small smile of her own and god, did he love to see her smile.

"Your chariot awaits." he smirked as he opened the passenger door for her.

"Damon Salvatore, a gentleman? I didn't think it was possible." she replied cheekily as she settled herself into his leather seat with a smirk on her face that could mirror his own.

"You wound me, 'Lena." he said while placing his hand over his heart, feigning hurt.

It was hard to imagine this was the same girl he saw last night. He half expected her to lock herself in her room for days while she cried over the fact that her boyfriend tried to rape her. Damon grit his teeth together as he moved over to the driver's area of the car as he re-played last night's events in his head. He wasn't sure what he would do once he saw Tyler Lockwood's face again, it took all of his willpower not to tear the kid to shreds last night when he saw Elena pushed up against the tree with his weight bearing down on her, tears streaming down her eyes. He wasn't sure if he'd have the same willpower if he happened to stumble across the jackass again. Elena was the only reason he held back and didn't put that little punk back in his place. But he knew she wouldn't want that, so he refrained himself. But seeing that jackass walking around town everyday would be a lot more difficult, now that he knew about the kid's potential to hurt Elena. He'd have to keep a close eye on Tyler Lockwood.

When Damon sat down into the driver's seat, he noticed that Elena was looking out of the window. He felt a strange pain in the pit of his stomach as he watched her for a few seconds. He felt hopeless. He might have saved her last night but right now, he didn't have a clue how to help her, and it killed him. He'd only been back for a few days, maybe a week tops but it was clear to him that she'd already gotten under his skin. He couldn't shake her... and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to.

He was glad they hadn't reverted into awkwardness though. He wasn't sure if she could remember asking him to stay last night and he was afraid that it might backfire today, but he just couldn't refuse her last night. There was like a strong magnetic pull towards her that he couldn't ignore. When he woke up today with her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her, he thought that things would be awkward or something. But luckily for him, they just naturally fell back into their own banter again.

He did sleep with her after all. Well... not like that, but he did sleep in the same bed as her.

"You just missed the Grill." Elena noted, snapping him out of his own thoughts. Well, at least she was speaking now.

"Yeah well, I thought after last night, we'd go somewhere else. I figured the Grill would be the last place you'd want to go, you know... considering _he's_ probably there." Damon shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal of anything. He was just looking out for her.

"I'm not gonna break down if I see him, Damon. I'm not made of glass!" she replied, sounding a little angry.

"Whoa there cowgirl, I never said that. I just think it would be nice to eat somewhere other than the Grill for a change. Don't you?" he said with a small shrug, trying to play it down. Elena Gilbert wasn't stupid and if he wasn't careful, she would see what he was trying to do a mile away.

"I-I guess. The food there does kinda suck. " she muttered, which caused him let out a hearty laugh.

"Exactly." he watched with a smile as blood flowed to her cheeks, making her blush.

Damon sighed as all the tension in the car seemed to dissipate. He didn't want to admit it but he felt kind of smug in the fact that he could make her body react the way it did. He liked to make her laugh and to see her blush, especially after last night. He was afraid that she might shut everyone off, become a shell of the person she was. He'd heard about it happening before.

His friend, Trevor who he met in the Corp had a twin sister who was raped. In a place like Afghanistan, you ran out of things to talk about so you usually ended up trading life stories with each other. Some were light-hearted and fun, while others where heavy, angsty. Trevor's sister, Rose was raped and was never the same again. He told us of the nightmares she had every night, and the fear of stepping outside the house, never being able to really get close to anyone ever again.

_That_ could have been Elena.

Rose was abused by a stranger, a random guy at a club. Now she doesn't speak to anyone she's unfamiliar with - that's the power this experience can have over someone. It had the power to destroy lives and he was determined to see that Elena wouldn't let something like this ruin her life.

"Damon, are you okay?" Elena asked, nodding to his hands, which were beginning to turn white from the clutch he had on the steering wheel.

"Yeah, fine. Here let me put some music on." he replied, loosening his grip on the wheel and switching the radio on.

"I love this song!" she squealed enthusiastically as a Taylor Swift song started playing.

"Oh no, no, no, no. I don't think so, 'Lena." Damon rushed out quickly before switching the radio to the rock channel where Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love a Bad Name' started blasting through the speakers. "This is more like it!"

"Damon, I was listening to that!" she exclaimed before pouting at him. "_You_ got to choose where to go for breakfast, so _I_ get to pick the music." He watched as her bottom lip was stuck out and how her big brown eyes stared into his own for a few seconds before finally giving in.

"Fine." he replied with an over exaggerated sigh. Damn her and those puppy dog eyes! "You're lucky I have an unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift."

* * *

Damon sighed as he turned into the car park of the diner, just out of town. After their little disagreement on music, he finally gave in and was forced to listen to awful pop music for the last twenty minutes. Although the sacrifice to his ear drums was definitely worth it. In those twenty minutes, he'd never seen Elena so careless and free, singing along to her favorite songs before in his life. It was definitely a sight that he would like to see again and again.

"Okay here we are." he announced, pulling the handbrake up as they parked.

"It's a little run down, don't ya think?" Elena replied, raising her eyebrows, looking at the diner as if it were an abandoned warehouse or something.

"Easy there, Judgy. It might not look the part, but it has some of the best pancakes I've ever tasted in my life." he said with an enthusiastic smile.

"I think I'll be the judge of that!" she shot back with a wink.

"You can't judge a book by its cover, Elena." Damon chided playfully, Elena completely oblivious to the double meaning it held.

_This girl will be the death of me! _He thought as she climbed out the car, giving him a front row seat to her perfectly shaped ass, while a distracted Elena eagerly started heading towards the diner.

Damon got out the car himself and made sure that it was locked before he started following her. He couldn't help but feel as though a massive weight was lifted of his shoulders whenever he was around Elena. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he felt this way around her. Anybody with eyes could see that she was attractive; he could still remember the jealousy that swept over him that night in the bar when he saw Tyler all over her. But that wasn't the only reason he was interested in Elena and loved being around her. There was something else, something deeper.

The simplest way he could describe it was that he just enjoyed being around her. He found it easy to just be himself with her, sometimes whether he liked it or not. The usual mask he used to protect himself seemed to obliterate whenever he and Elena were alone. This is why he wanted to be something to her, anything. To be a brotherly figure, a friend, possibly _more_. He just wanted to be a part of her life as cliched as that sounded.

He figured it was a good thing he wasn't saying this stuff out loud because if Alaric caught wind of this, he'd probably be deprived of his man card.

When they walked into the diner, they slid into a booth near the back and called a waitress over towards them to order some food. He was hungry before they left and the drive over had been considerably long so he was starving now they'd finally got there. He looked around at the interior designing of the place and not much had changed in four years, hardly anything actually. A couple of new seats and a new coffee machine were the only changes made to the diner since he'd last been there.

"We've missed breakfast." Elena noted as she opened the menu.

"Well whose fault was that?" Damon retorted with a smirk.

"Sorry that I didn't have time to go home and shower before we came out! That was a dick move, leaving by the way." she replied, her playful tone turning slightly serious.

Shit! Had he made her angry when he left this morning? Because leaving was the last thing on his mind when he woke up this morning, arms and legs tangled with hers. In the end, after spending around twenty minutes just lying in bed with her even breathing relaxing him, he decided that Miranda catching them in bed together probably wouldn't be the ideal situation that Elena would want to be in after last night.

Of course when he high-tailed it back home and was showering, he had the bright idea of spending the day with Elena and making her forget about everything that happened. He wasn't a specialist or anything in these types of situations but he figured that it was better to just rip the band aid off straight away and deal with it rather than ignore it like the big elephant in the room. That's where the idea of breakfast came from, to ease her into things.

"I came back, didn't I? I wasn't sure if I had permission to use your shower." Damon shrugged before flashing his pearly whites.

"Wouldn't be something you haven't done before." Elena muttered before turning back to the menu.

Damon let her sentence hang in the air as they both knew the last time he showered in her house was when Jeremy was still alive and the last thing he wanted to do right now was open that can of worms. While she wasn't ready to talk about last night, he definitely wasn't ready to re-hash all things Jeremy with her yet.

"Well by god... Damon Salvatore. Never thought I'd see your handsome butt in here again..." An old voice called out, breaking the tension that was slowly building.

He turned his head to see who had called his name and was greeted Sandy, who owned the diner. Damon had stumbled upon Sandy's Diner five years ago with Jeremy one day when they went looking for a place to help cure their hangover. He could remember it clear as day the first time they walked into the diner and had Sandy's pancakes for the first time, which could only be described as heaven. After that day, they had both gone to the diner as often as possible, curing their hangovers and hanging out in a place where they didn't have any reputations to live up to or any punks trying to start shit with them. It was refreshing and Sandy's Diner quickly became one of his favorite places to go in the world.

"Sandy, is that you? I hardly recognized you. You look even younger than the last time I saw you." Damon smiled, turning the charm up full dial as the old aged woman came over to their booth.

"Oh stop it!" the old woman replied, slapping him slightly on the arm. "And who's this beautiful, young lady?" she asked, turning to Elena.

"Well Sandy, I would like to introduce you to Elena Gilbert, Jeremy's sister."

"_You're_ Elena? The one that Jeremy couldn't stop gushing over? Wow Damon, I know you said she was pretty but I think the words that you were looking for were drop dead gorgeous!" Sandy said enthusiastically and shit! She wasn't meant to say that. How the hell did she even remember him saying that anyway?

He vaguely heard Sandy and Elena exchange greetings and sweet words but he zoned out thinking about that day. Damon still remembered the day he accidentally blurted that out in front of her and Jeremy. He hadn't meant anything by it when he said it, he just thought that he'd contribute to the conversation they were having about Elena. But the look that Jeremy shot him was murderous and he immediately he knew he had fucked up and that Elena was off limits. In hindsight he knew he shouldn't have opened his damn mouth, especially in front of Sandy. The woman had no filter.

"Damon, are you blushing?" Elena asked with a shit-eating grin on her face.

"What? No, of course not." he stumbled, trying to recover. Shit he didn't even think he was capable of blushing!

"Alright lovebirds, what can I get you?" Sandy chuckled, getting her little notepad out.

"I'll have the usual mega burger and fries please." Damon replied. The two things that he'd been craving for since he'd been home were one of Sandy's juicy burgers and her deliciously, sweet pancakes. The goddamn woman had a gift!

"Yeah, I'll have the same." Elena said, placing the menu down on the table and smiling brightly at the old woman.

"Oh and pancakes!" Damon chirped in, winking at her.

"Anything for the hometown hero!" Sandy smiled before spinning around and making her way to the kitchen.

"I wish everyone would stop calling me that." Damon muttered without much thought.

Damon turned his attention back to the brunette across from the table from him; she was leaning on the table with her chin rested on her palms. Her big, brown eyes bored into his and he noticed a weird expression on her face, one in which she seemed to be studying him. He tried to determine what was bouncing around in that pretty little head of hers, know what she was thinking about. When she finally seemed to snap out of her day-dreaming gaze, she gave him a shy smile which he found fucking sexy as hell, the tightness in his crotch area clearly indicating that mini Damon agreed.

"Why do you hate being called a hero?" she blurted out, still staring at him with that angelic smile of hers.

"I'm pretty sure you caught the show yesterday, Elena. I thought I made it pretty clear..."

"Oh come on, Damon. I know you were just pissed at Carol for some reason so you lashed out, I know you better than you think." He had to admit, she nailed it on the head pretty much.

His outburst last night was the result of him overhearing a conversation between her and some other Mystic Falls snob, talking openly about him as well as Jeremy's death as if it were some kind of ticket to fame for her. Not to mention that she pretty much fucking ambushed him at the bonfire, insisting that he do a speech because the whole thing was dedicated to him as some sort of sick tribute. He didn't want to celebrate the fact that he survived and his best friend didn't. Carol only wanted to use him for her own gain and it pissed him off. Sure, he might have gone about it the wrong way, a little destructively but who gives a fuck! The whole thing turned out shitty anyway...

"I don't like the Lockwood's, the fact that they think they own the town pisses me off." he shrugged, hoping she'd take the bait.

"Well maybe you should run for mayor." She teased and Damon felt himself relaxing around her again. It was getting harder and harder to keep his walls up around Elena. Pretty soon he was sure she would just come through like a JCB and demolish them.

"Me? Jesus, could you imagine. Leather jackets all around for everyone!" he laughed and he felt his heart soar when he heard her giggles. Man, he was turning into such a pussy but at the moment, he couldn't even bother to care.

After that they easily fell into light banter as they waited for their food. In the half hour that they'd been talking for, Damon learnt that Elena's favorite band was an Irish one called The Script, her favorite food was pizza and that she loved the color blue, although she wouldn't tell him why. While he told her that one of the things he missed most when he was away was cooking home-grown meals like lasagne and spaghetti bolognese, typical Italian meals that his mother had taught him to make.

When their food finally came, Damon's belly couldn't contain the large grumble that it made at the sight of the mega burger. He'd waited four long years for one of those bad boys and he could barely control his excitement as he watched the plate be placed onto the table in front of him. He felt like a little boy on Christmas morning, waiting to open his presents! After taking a massive bite and letting the flavor bounce around his taste buds, he looked up to see Elena picking her pickles to one side of her plate.

"What you don't like pickles? What's wrong with you girl?" Damon asked a little confused. Who in their right mind didn't like pickles?

"Nope, their disgusting." she replied, popping the 'p' nonchalantly as he leaned over and stole a pickle off her plate.

"More for me then." he smirked as he devoured the pickle in front of her.

He watched on as she finally picked up the burger, his eyes glued to her as she took her first bite. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he really wanted to see if Elena liked the burger or not because if she didn't, he was probably going to have to take her to the nearest hospital or something to get her taste buds checked out. Pickles were one thing, but the mega burger was unacceptable! As she took a bite out of the burger, a small moan escaped her mouth sending tingles straight down his spine and sending the blood in his body south. This woman was seriously going to be the end of him! He wasn't sure if he could control himself if she kept making lewd sounds like that.

"This is seriously the best burger I've ever tasted!" she exclaimed and Damon felt as though he could jump for joy.

"Never doubt my food tasting abilities, Gilbert." Damon smirked, taking another bite out of his burger.

"Can I ask you a question?" Elena asked as she wiped her mouth with the napkin, looking at him with a reflective expression on her face. He didn't like the look of this...

"Sure." he replied sceptically.

"Why are you doing this? Is it just because you feel sorry for me?"

Damon sighed and ran a hand through his hair, tousling it a little as he thought about how to reply to her. Should he just deflect and hope she drops the subject? He didn't really want to reveal to her the real, selfish reasons he brought her out today. He might have wanted to help her with the situation she was currently in but he'd by lying if he said that he didn't have any secret agendas to spending the day with her. Maybe he should just bite the bullet and just tell her the truth; it's not _that_ big of a deal.

"Look Elena. I know that it might be hard to believe, what with my dashing good looks and amazing personality but I don't have that many friends anymore. Hell, there's not many people I even like anymore. But I do know that you're not the worst company in the world, 'Lena. I like spending time with you and if you'll let me... I'd like to be your friend."

"So this is not all just because of last night?" Elena asked again sceptically.

"Okay so maybe I wanted to make one of my friend's feel a little better? Sue me." he shrugged with a smile on his face.

The rest of lunch went great between them after that. Damon was surprised at how easy it was for them to fall back into their natural banter, he thought that after what he said things would be slightly awkward and uncomfortable but Elena seemed to just take it in stride and carry on with their day. Damon found himself smiling genuinely a lot more than he'd care to admit, but that was the power of Elena Gilbert. She had the power to lift anyone's spirits to the height of her own.

Sandy came over again and sat with them for a little while. She jumped at the chance to reveal some stories of the diner to her, hilarious customers and the time that the kitchen caught fire and almost set fire to the whole place. Sandy lived on the outskirts of the small town that was sort of like the neighbors to Mystic Falls. Fells Church was a small town that you had to pass through to get to Mystic Falls and although Damon hadn't exactly stopped there before to check the place out, if the people were anything like Sandy then he was sure that it was probably a fun and lively place to live.

Before either of them knew, it was approaching five in the afternoon and Damon thought that soon people would probably start to worry about the whereabouts of Elena. The drive back to Mystic Falls was around and hour so it was probably a good idea if they left now.

After saying their goodbyes to Sandy and taking some pancakes to go, they climbed back into Damon's car and started driving back to Mystic Falls. Of course Elena had control of the radio again and he was forced to endure an hours' worth of country music and horrible pop music but he had to admit that it was worth it just to spend the time with her. She promised to bring her CD's of The Script next time and Damon couldn't help but feel a little smug that there _would_ be a next time. It was safe to say that road trips with Elena Gilbert weren't half bad and he definitely wouldn't object to another one.

By the time that Damon pulled up in front of Elena's house, it was half 6 in the evening. They probably would have made it home quicker if Elena hadn't insisted that they stop for toilet breaks every couple of miles. If she hadn't drunk about a litre of coffee at Sandy's then she probably wouldn't have needed to go toilet every five minutes. Okay maybe a litre of coffee was over-exaggerating but you get the point... she drank a lot.

"You know I had a really great time today Damon, thanks." Elena said as he came to a stop just outside her house.

"You're welcome." Damon replied, his lips curling upwards slightly.

"So you're serious about this friend's thing?" She asked a little hesitantly. It was like the girl couldn't fathom why he wanted to be her friend.

"About as serious as a heart attack." He shot back, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles.

"Okay then. Are you free this Friday?" Elena asked once her giggles died down and he couldn't help but notice the blood rush to her cheeks, tinting them red.

"Yeah sure."

"My house this Friday then, be here for seven. We'll have a movie night."

"Seven it is. I'll bring the popcorn."

Damon watched with a smirk as Elena climbed out the car and bounced up the porch steps to her front door. He waited while Elena turned back and waved at him before going inside until he put the car back into first gear and made his way back home. On the drive home he couldn't help but feel as though he was on cloud fucking nine after the day he had. He was already excited for Friday night now and it wasn't even Monday yet.

As he pulled into the driveway of the Boarding House, he noticed that all the lights in the house were off except the living room one, which was odd considering that usually the whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree. When he entered the house, he noticed that there was an eerily silence in the place. Stefan probably went out and forgot to turn the light off. Still if his personal experiences taught him one thing, it was that it was always best to be cautious.

To say that Damon was shocked to see Stefan in the living room when he turned the corner would be the understatement of the century. Damon stood to a halt as he took in his younger brother sitting in the armchair with bloodshot eyes, holding a glass of whiskey in a shaky hand. His fists clenched unconsciously to his side as he took note that Stefan had been crying. His brother might have been acting like a first class dick recently but it didn't change the fact that he would kill anybody who'd hurt him. He was still his brother after all...

"Stefan what's wrong?" Damon asked, failing to mask the urgency in his tone.

"Damon, I think you better sit down. We need to talk..."

* * *

AN: I hope that you liked the chapter!

By the way for those who have twitter, I recently made one and I would love to follow some of you guys on there. I made one so that you can see how updates are going and stuff, otherwise I'll probably be tweeting anything TVD related really.

Twitter: curiouswriter1


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